Comments on: For now, save my seat on the Flaming Lips’ bandwagon

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:55:44 +0000

hey scott — thanks for making me think about early lips. i pulled out A Collection of Songs Representing an Enthusiasm for Recording … By Amateurs this morning and listened to it while I went running. I haven’t listened to it in at least 5 years. Wow those songs age nicely. I was struck, too, by how many thematic continuities there were between old and new Lips, at least lyrically. One of those songs is going to kick off my summer mix, but I won’t say which one. bw

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:20:20 +0000

Right, re: Merc Rev, though their last was so schmaltzy that I can’t take it more than one song at a time, and some of those I have to fast forward. Too bad.

By: Scott Godfrey

Scott Godfrey — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:12:03 +0000

I agree with you about Mercury Rev pre and post Deserter’s Songs. A lot of people draw the connection between that record and Soft Bulletin (same producer, same year, some say same band). I actually prefer post D. Songs Rev; less was lost (or more was gained) in their shift. Anyway, heck yeah on the ELO thing.

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 21:05:57 +0000

well, i don’t know about VH, but i’m with you on loving the early lips, even though soft bulletin still trumps the earlier stuff in my mind. actually, i don’t really even think of them as the same band. sort of like mercury rev pre- and post-deserter’s songs. they were something else earlier on; soft bulletin reordered their DNA (that and getting at least one of them off smack). the last two are brain candy, but i’ll let them go with it — it’s good energy in the universe. one thing i really appreciated about that decisive 1999 shift is that they also started rereleasing a lot of the earlier stuff that was hard to find. i still need to get the Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid box set.

As for Soft Bulletin — I argue with Farrell and Rebecca on that one too. They actually like Yoshimi better, at least they did last I talked to them about it. (Guys?) But for me it’s all in the strings. I’m a sucker for strings. Which is why I like late Beach Boys better than early (which I can’t stand), late Beatles over early, not to mention a host of stuff that inspires post-1999 Flaming Lips, like (gasp!) the Alan Parsons Project and ELO.

By: Scott Godfrey

Scott Godfrey — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 20:31:21 +0000

I inhabit that sad hinterland reserved formerly for people who love the Beach Boys but hate Pet Sounds, adored the Beatles before they grew facial hair and, think Van Halen was improved by his royal Hagarness. Yes, I am one of the few (in fact I haven’t met another) that loved the Flaming Lips until they released Soft Bulletin. I know! I can hear the gasps now, and I wish it weren’t so. I’ve seen them three times before and once since the release of Bulletin. I was even one of the about 200 people at the Wetlands for the Boom-Box Experiment; this was the real turning point in our relationship. I remember walking to the path station thinking, “C’mon Wayne. I understand wanting to do this cool new thing, but when it was over you could’ve pulled out and acoustic guitar and played two or three songs…like with words in them.”

Maybe you’re thinking I just don’t get minimalist, conceptual, postmodern or any other art-form that requires a little time and insight. This is far from true. In fact, I think the Lips used to be harder to “get;” one had to listen through layers of noise to make-out the simple, beautiful message delivered on a ribbon of perfectly tidy melody. This is what gave me and my fellow poor-musician-friends hope; one doesn’t need a lot money, connections, or technical skill to make some of the best rock music since Pet Sounds or even the Beatles (post facial hair). Perhaps I’m just one of those sad idiots that really think Hagar is better that Diamond Dave.