The Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands
Did anyone ever adamantly tell you that The Flaming Lips went ‘kinda shit’ in the 2000s? I was fed that theory but couldn’t really buy into it, especially with the soaring bliss of tracks like My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion and OTT cheesy vibes on The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (both off 2006’s not-that-bad At War With The Mystics). That being said, The Soft Bulletin is still the Lips’ unassailable magnum opus.
UNTIL NOW. Maybe.
Having just released a 3-track sampler previewing their forthcoming album Embryonic, Wayne Coyne and co. have kicked into another weirder cartoon dimension. Wayne Coyne’s clearly been taking his stage zorb into outer space, chilling with green space ladies in opium dens while the band perfects the otherworldly shriek that puncuates Silver Trembling Hands every twenty seconds. It’s so out of the blue and compelling, keeping you hanging out for the next falsetto drop constantly. Between those notes lie Coyne singing starwards to his green space honey, who’s apparently super high (best/worst pun of 2009). The guitar hazes in halfway through as the track loses some steam, but then That Shriek comes back in and the simple driving snare pushes everything back into cruise again, riding out the rest of the chrome-plated acid trip. The Flaming Lips have always been a childrens birthday party on acid, but these next level spaceship-sounding new tracks have me way too excited for the rest of Embryonic. Turns out their Live DVD Christmas On Mars WAS relevantly titled.
