FLAMING LIPS

Artist / Band: FLAMING LIPS
Song (MP3): THE WAND
Album: At War With The Mystics
File Under: Flaming Lips
Info: 'At War With The Mystics' will be released on 3/4 April (depending where you live) and we decided it was time to drag some thoughts about the record out of Lips multi-instrumental maestro Steven Drozd...
Wayne has been describing 'At War With The Mystics' as being more of a rock record than recent efforts, with the Lips being inspired by their live performances of Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs' to get back to playing guitars and building songs from there. Listening to the record, it's easy to see where he's coming from but, beyond the kind of rock grooves you might expect the Lips to bring alongside their riffs, there also seems to be a bit of a weird funk feel bubbling under some of the songs, such as 'Free Radicals' and 'It Overtakes Me'. A Lips-style space funk, if you will... Steven concedes, "Early on in the 'At War' sessions, we started getting into an old new wave funk classic track called 'Ride The White Horse' by this band Laid Back. It's such a simple and silly song and I think it just kinda stayed with us as we were working on stuff..." Not only that but some of the songs like 'Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung', which Steven sings the lead on and describes as 'the one with the Pink Floyd/Doctor Who thing going on', still keep that familiar Lips leaning towards prog (as opposed to the heavier riffs and fuzz of, say, 'The W.A.N.D.') - "I have to agree that an instrumental tune ('The Wizard Turns On') floating along with Rhodes and Synth Flute could probably be called prog! But I do think 'The Soft Bulletin' was way more prog influenced as a record..."
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