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The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots |
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05 August 2005 |
The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - (Warner Brothers) After having released on of the finest CDs of the last decade with The Soft Bulletin , The Flaming Lips have unleashed their follow-up in the very Flaming Lip-titled Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots . While not as powerful as its predecessor, it nevertheless exploits numerous strengths that the band have developed over the last few years. Enough to make it a worthy part of their canon. There's been much publicity regarding the title's referencing a vocalist for The Boredoms battling notorious pink robots, but behind that lies what may be one of The Flaming Lips' most personal efforts. Dealing with themes of struggle, loss, and affirmation...it's almost spiritual. So, to accompany that, The Lips let delicate melodies tell their stories. If The Soft Bulletin is to be pointed to at all, imagine Yoshimi... as capitalizing on the likes of Waiting For Superman . Slow and steady grooves dominate here, as in Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1 and Are You A Hypnotist , but fear not - the bands' trademark sonic explorations aren't compromised. This time around, The Flaming Lips go somewhat techno. Appropriation isn't the name of the game here as much as the act of redefining. It's The Lips world that the sound is brought into. Wayne Coyne's distinctive vocals wrap around songs like Fight Test , with keyboard bleeps and bloops that couldn't come from any other band. Gone from the proceedings is the powerhouse sound of drummer Steve Drozd - a regrettable absence. Still, there's not a whole lot of room on Yoshimi... that would welcome such. Song like In The Morning Of The Magicians wouldn't have a place for a heavier sound. Neither would the closing instrumental masterpiece Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia) - if movie makers aren't pounding on The Flaming Lips' door to commission a score then something is very wrong. Yoshimi... is a fine release that proves that The Flaming Lips are still one of the most accomplished and insightful bands at work today - and that The Soft Bulletin was no accident. As long as they keep challenging themselves, there should be rewards for listeners to reap.
7.5
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