![]() ![]() The band is often dismissed as a cabal of weirdos, but they know how to coax a great hook out from under the layers of aural goop. Buried underneath the idiosyncrasies of “How Many Times”, for instance, is a gorgeous, tender pop song. The band also manages to once again pull the wool over the eyes of any listener who insists that the band is all style and no substance. Their first album since 2017’s somewhat polarizing Oczy Moldy, King’s Mouth seems perfectly happy to tread stylistic water, acting almost like a default Lips album, despite (or perhaps because of) the thematic ambitions at work. He pops in every once in a while to provide updates in an innocent, children’s book cadence, navigating through the trippy twists and turns with the music providing appropriate dramatic flair. It’s not by any means a dominant, distracting feature. Jones provides the narrative glue to the album’s story, but it never really overpowers the album. King’s Mouth veers from cracked lullabies like “Giant Baby” to trippy, distorted collages like “Electric Fire” to the dark funk workout “Feedaloodum-Beedle-Dot”. “We don’t know how and we don’t know why,” he says, “but when the king was born / His mother died / She was the queen of their hearts / And the queen of their minds / Her sisters and the nation cried and cried.” And we’re off. Chrome-Plated Suicide is a standout track from The Flaming Lips’ discography, showcasing their ability to convey deep emotions through their music. The brief opener, “We Don’t Know How and We Don’t Know Why” is a typically swirling, psychedelic fanfare that sets the stage with the aid of Jones’ recitations. Not that this is a standard, radio-friendly pop album. “The King’s Mouth immersive/childlike qualities are born from the same spark and womb as the Flaming Lips live performances,” he explains in the press release, adding that it “was made for humans of all sizes, ages, cultures, and religions”. Perhaps the airier, less abrasive sound on King’s Mouth is the result of Coyne attempting a more inclusive piece of art. If anything, the album comes off as a more low-key version of their standard sound.Īn interesting wrinkle with this particular album is that it parallels Coyne’s immersive art installation of the same name, showcased in museums in New Mexico, Oregon, Maryland, and the band’s home state of Oklahoma. The usual sonic structure is in place: belching analog synths, strumming acoustic guitars, frontman Wayne Coyne’s off-key crooning. Having said that, King’s Mouth – released in limited (4,000 copies) gold vinyl for Record Store Day, with a general release in July – is pretty standard Flaming Lips fare. ![]() The Flaming Lips rarely do anything by the book. Surely, King’s Mouth: Music and Songs is a delightfully strange album, but this is a band that made an experimental four-disc set meant to play simultaneously on four CD players (the ambitious, if slightly flawed Zaireeka), a Dark Side of the Moon tribute album, and have cultivated a difficult-to-explain relationship with pop singer Miley Cyrus. The biology teacher would surely be fired for wasting school funds on gummy candy instead of the real deal.It says a lot about the general weirdness of the Flaming Lips that when they make a concept album featuring narration by Mick Jones of the Clash, it barely registers a blip on the “odd” scale. To make matters stranger, upon closer inspection you see it’s really just a gummy fetal pig, and once you finally begin your dissection, instead of removing organs you remove a USB drive. You reach down to pick it up, only to discover you can’t get a good grip as it keeps sliding out of your grasp, bouncing once more. But what if you make that first puncture and the fetal pig slips off the table, bouncing off the ground and ricocheting off the wall. The band has released 15 studio albums, including their most recent album. But there was this weird phenomena of bands who weren’t metal but were somehow cool and interesting. He formed the band in 1983 with his brother, Mark Coyne, and bassist Michael Ivins. ![]() Hit To Death In The Future Head (1992) This album is a good example of early 90s modern rock. The animal is long dead, and all you have to do is just slice, slide, open, and extract the organs and limbs you’ve been instructed to remove. Click below to experience The Flaming Lips at their finest 10. This time, we sort through the best and worst of Wayne Coyne’s spongy, gooey mind.Ī biology class dissection is normally an easy, albeit squeamish, process to get through. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. This feature originally ran in 2013 and has been updated. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992).
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