Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics

The Flaming Lips are one of my favorite bands. For almost three decades, they've been able to remain cutting edge without losing their sense of humor. Albums like Clouds Taste Metallic and Soft Bulletin remain among my most-spun records, and I don't think I've ever cursed as much as when I missed the Lips' surprise gig at SXSW this year because I was stuck at a Beth Orton concert (stupid Beth Orton).

After the triumph that was Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, I was looking forward to the Lips' next release, however, when I got At War With the Mystics on pre-release a few weeks ago, I was dissapointed. The problem isn't with the record, though, it's a solid dics. It's with the expectations I put on it.

While songs like "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" and "The W.A.N.D." harken back to the "Transmissions From the Satellite Heart" era, tracks like "Vein of Stars" and "It Overtakes Me" veer into the sleepy-head-ambient moments of Yoshimi that just weren't as strong as the rest of the disc. In other places, such as the first single, "Mr. Ambulance Driver," the Lips start to move towards (gasp!) adult contemporary.

On the whole, however, the disc stands up to Yoshimi or even Clouds, it's just not the Dark Side of the Moon I was expecting. Of course, Wayne Coyne and Steve Drozd already gave us one of those; it's called Soft Bulletin.