THE FLAMING LIPS
Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid
Restless/ Rykodisc
THE FLAMING LIPS
The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg
Restless/ Rykodisc
A journey back into the margins of the mind.
Lipsarcana!
No matter what you think about The Flaming Lips – whether you see them as adventurous saviours of psychedelic pop music or merely as dabblers in pseudo-experimentalism – it's impossible to deny that the noisy proto-grunge of the band's early records was anything but a testing ground for the highly orchestrated concept albums they delivered in the late 90s, most notably Zaireeka and The Soft Bulletin.
And while Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid and The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg collect enough material from the band's first eight years (1983 to 91) to be considered essential for devotees, others will find it tough to reconcile the distorted guitars and lo-fi production values on these five discs with the group's later output. But who cares about those people? They obviously suffer from a poverty of imagination.
I want to hear Wayne Coyne blow out his vocal cords on a medley of the Sonics' "Strychnine" and Elvis Costello's – er, I mean Nick Lowe's – "(What's So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding." I want to read Coyne's philosophical ramblings about life, the universe and bad acid trips. I want to know every arcane detail about every cast off song that was ever sent to the Lips' scrap pile, no matter how unlistenable those songs may be. Ultimately, I want to scour these tracks for the glimmerings of what later came to be, to revel in their unpolished protean elements until my ears bleed.
Which is basically to say that if you don't own this material, you're not really much of a fan, now, are you?
ACID 4/5
EGG 4/5
JAIME FREDERICK
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