So what do The Flaming Lips sound like? They aren't exactly easy to categorize. Labels such as alternative rock, punk, psychedelic pop and shoegaze have all been used to describe their music, but they have, perhaps intentionally, avoided sticking to one genre. Throughout their career, the band has expanded their sound considerably. When they first started, they were decidedly a loud punk band. But as they grew, they embraced modern recording techniques and started to experiment with many different instruments and more complex arrangements. When asked what instrument he plays, Coyne has answered “the recording studio”.
"Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" from The Soft Bulletin. Listen for the orchestration and the distinct change in sound from previous albums.
Yoshimi and Electronics A few years after Yoshimi, the Lips returned to the studio to record the politically charged At War with the Mystics, which attempted a return to a more organic sound. Guitars were again placed towards the front of the mix, but the complex electronic sounds remained. Critical reception was positive, though not as glowing as the two previous records. At that point, the novelty of electronics in recording had worn off. Now, anyone with a computer has an orchestra of sounds at their fingertips.
The First 10 Years
When the band started out, they were heavily influenced by the punk and hardcore bands that they saw coming through their hometown. Wayne and his brother Mark decided to start a band with a couple guys from their high school, including Ivins, and The Flaming Lips were born. The lineup was slightly different (Mark handled vocals for the first album) and Ivins didn’t even know how to play the bass. As you can except, the sound was a little rough, but the dedication was there. Even from the beginning, their live shows had a tendency to get wild: they had a reputation for setting things on fire onstage.
The introduction of producer Dave Fridmann on their 4th album, In a Priest Driver Ambulance was a turning point in the Lips sound. Fridmann has since been the producer for every album, with the exception of Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. He gave a more prominent role to tape loops, samplers and electronic effects. According to interviews with the band, Friddman and then-guitarist Jonathan Donahue would take LSD and spend long nights mixing the album, which might explain the psychedelic tendencies.
After Donahue left the band, drummer Steven Drozd and guitarist Roland Jones joined the band and the group continued to take off sonically while recording Transmissions. Jones was intent on squeezing as many guitar effects into every track as they could, and Drozd, arguably the groups best musician, brought new level of focus to the band. The Lips were making pop music, at least in structure, but a freaked-out take on it. Guitars squelch and swirl around Wayne’s echoing vocals, drenched in reverb and delay, while Drozd’s blown-out, distorted drums bang away. Sonically, they were being influenced by My Bloody Valentine’s landmark 1991 album Loveless and its “wall-of-sound” aesthetic. The songs were becoming musically more melodic while maintaining their characteristic amount of chaos.
"Oh My Pregnant Head" from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
"Hit Me Like You Did the First Time" 1992
Sonic Breakthrough
After recording a follow up to Transmissions called Clouds Taste Metallic and touring constantly, the band was exhausted. Drozd was struggling with a heroin addiction, the stress of which allegedly caused Jones to leave the band. Coyne became frustrated with the band’s structure and with “whacked-out” guitar sounds. He had increasingly symphonic music in mind and wanted to find new ways to get this to the listeners. Luckily, new technology was making this possible.
A series of experiments (discussed under the ‘Experimentation’ tab) led to the creation of Zaireeka, the Lip’s most inventive record yet. Meant to be played simultaneously on 4 different CD players, the recording employed elements of “found” sounds (music concrète) heavily manipulated and disorienting noise, paired with moments of melody and structure. The idea was to create real surround sound, with sounds traveling around the listener. Although not fully recognized at the time, the record established the grounds for their breakthrough album, The Soft Bulletin.
Soft Bulletin marked a new chapter for the Lips when it was released in 1999. Its fusion of rock elements with synthetic strings, lush, orchestral arrangements and harmonies garnered many comparisons to The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Wayne’s singing was stronger and his lyrics more philosophical, though still silly and absurd. Drozd’s organic drumming was manipulated heavily, and paired with drum machines and pre-recorded beats.
The use of synthesizers is much more apparent, as is the studio work, moving towards the futuristic sound they are often associated with. Although it sounds convincing, all of the orchestration was made using a Roland O-MC1 Sound Module. Perhaps because of these new glossy techniques, the music was, in general, catchier and more accessible. Soft Bulletin even saw the band dipping into space-y instrumental tracks, a la Pink Floyd, allowing Drozd, a multi-instrumentalist, to flex his musical talents. For example, Drozd overdubbed himself to create the massive choir effects. The critics took notice, and the album was cited by many, included NME, as the best of the year.
Video of Wayne using a Theremin in concert (circa 2000)
"Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" from The Soft Bulletin. Listen for the orchestration and the distinct change in sound from previous albums.
After the success of Soft Bulletin, the band only continued to grow. They released Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in 2002 to both critical and commercial success. Expanding on the sonic palette of Bulletin, they brought in Japanese noise artist Yoshimi P-We, and continued to use electronics to add depth to their psychedelic orchestrations. Yoshimi is even more futuristic than the previous album, contains deep basses, glittering synth landscapes and long, epic instrumental breaks. Distant, reverb-heavy vocals and orchestral instruments float above these tracks. Drozd, who is responsible for much of the arranging, cited electronica artists like Aphex Twin and The Chemical Brothers as influences. He used Reason to manually program some of the drums and has been quoted saying that any musician who doesn’t use computers is missing out. He describes it opening up a whole new realm of sound. Drozd also used Pro Tool’s Beat Detective to deconstruct some of his live drumming and do a lot of reprogramming. The result was a hip hop-like hybrid of live and programmed: live drums stop suddenly and fills burst in slightly unnatural ways.
Yoshimi's "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21"
This track is a good example of Drozd's drum programming and electronic beats
as well as the futuristic theme of the record
Embryonic and Beyond
Undeterred and constantly pushing themselves, their latest LP, Embryonic (2009), took a bold new direction for the band and was also their first double album. Wayne has said in interviews that some of his favorite albums, like The Beatles (White Album) are sprawling and unfocused, but better because of it. More thematic and decidedly less “poppy” than previous albums, there are few singles that could stand-alone. The album flows from idea to idea, and is markedly less focused than previous albums. Random guitar effects pan in and out and electronic effects abound, but they are less futuristic and more abrasive than before. The drumming is still heavily distorted (as is Wayne’s voice) but the feel of the album is closer to the punk, noise-influenced sound of early recordings. Critics applauded their departure, and so did their fans.
The Lips have remained busy, recording their take on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon in 2009 and touring constantly. They are a staple on the festival circuit and the shows only get bigger and more elaborate: truly and audio-visual overload.
They have added new members to the touring lineup in order to play these live sets. 2011 has seen them releasing a new music in a variety of different ways, including limited edition 12” and on a USB drive embedded in a Gummy Skull. One of the greatest things about the Flaming Lips is that they are never content to settle. They have the creative freedom to play around in the studio, so their music can organically unfold, unconstrained by time or demands from the record company. Warner Bros. knows what the Flaming Lips do, and they expect (and want) it to be a weird as possible. As Fridmann says, “the happy accident is the rule with them, instead of the exception.”
"Silver Trembling Hands" Live 2009
"Do You Realize" @ The UFO's at the Zoo Concert
Note the unholy amount of confetti shot off during this song
Note the unholy amount of confetti shot off during this song
Rather than go against the flow of new technology, they have embraced it and allowed it to take their sound in new and exciting directions. The influence of the Lips futuristic sound (and recording techniques) can be seen in the new wave of neo-psychedelic pop that emerged in the 2000’s. Bands like MGMT, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tame Impala (who have all also worked with Fridmann), Neon Indian, Muse, Stardeath & the White Dwarfs and even Animal Collective have benefited both from the Lips’ live antics and studio experimentation.
A recent video of a collaboration between Alan Palomo (of Neon Indian) and
The Lips shows them in the studio (starting around 2:51) using Korg analog synthesizers, an oscilloscope, and a Kaoss Pad, among other instruments.
