Flaming Lips
Oczy Mlody
[Bella Union]
In 1992, as The Flaming Lips released their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future, Head, the charts were dominated by a ponytailed colossus. I speak of course of the saccharine pop-country behemoth that was Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achey Breaky Heart. Back then the idea of the acid damaged Oklahoma experimentalists acting as the backing band for Cyrus’ daughter (born that same year) surely would have seemed like the product of some sort of twisted celebrity madlibs. He was the embodiment of middle of the road schlock, they were heroin-dabbling nogoodniks, famed for punctuating their ramshackle live shows with eyebrow singeing jets from homemade flamethrowers.
There is no harm reflecting on Lips lore when considering their latest release, Oczy Mlody, as, in a sense, history is repeating itself. As their 2013 release, The Terror, announced a return to the studio driven antilock and existential dread that characterized their magnum opus The Soft Bulletin. Oczy Mlody, much like Bulletin follow up Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, operates in a similar sonic palette to its predecessor while boasting an entirely more goofy outlook. These dubby, symphonic, synth-driven epics-in-miniature are more concerned with dragons, rainbows and unicorns than the omni-present specter of inevitable death. Ambitious? Certainly. Silly? Somewhat. Their best work in years? Absolutely.
Like this? Try these:
Peaking Lights – Lucifer
Morgan Delt – Phase Zero
Mort Garson – Plantasia
Words – Danny Wilson
