The Oklahoma City trio The Flaming Lips reinvented themselves a number of times during their career that began in the early 1990s. Starting out as a wild, guitar-oriented acid rock band, they slowly moved on to a more melodic and psychedelic sound. This resulted in the cosmic pop classic The Soft Bulletin in 1999. With this album the group broke through as a group of pleasantly deranged freaks. On
… At War With The Mystics, the group seems to be fully aware of their image and nothing is too fond of them. Excessively derailed close harmony vocals can be heard on the hit-sensitive opening track The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, followed by the barely danceable funk of Free Radicals. A song like The WAND also offers a completely unique and deliberately cut-up view of pop music. Fortunately, The Soft Bulletin's spherical sound has not been completely released. The mesmerizing and slightly sinister sounds in songs like Mr. Ambulance Driver and Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung make this group so special. (MR)more
