Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros) The Flaming Lips' last record was a four-CD set designed to be played simultaneously to produce a sweeping sonic landscape. Their last performances involved conducting orchestras of boomboxes and car stereos, all playing drastically different tapes. Being the mavericks the Oklahoman trio are, everything goes for the sake of their art.
Exorbitant acts are called for to follow up these leftfield projects, so with The Soft Bulletin, they delivered what was the least expected - and probably most perverse - of them: they released a pop album.
Brimming with catchy melodies and songs with unimaginably memorable choruses, The Soft Bulletin is easily the most accessible opus from Wayne Coyne and his friends since they first imploded on to the scene 16 years ago - the summery Buggin' even made it on to the soundtrack for the latest Austin Powers vehicle.
Of course, a Flaming Lips record would not be complete without its particular twist towards the peculiar. With The Soft Bulletin, the quirkiness lies within the lyrics - underneath the breezy melodies Coyne has crafted a highly existential masterpiece, delving into the vulnerability and confusion the modern man experiences in an age where technology has basically outrun the human mind.
The album's standout singalong, Race For The Prize, is a fascinating ode to desperate scientists racing against time - and their peers - to get to the ultimate Holy Grail that should cure the world's ills. The Spark That Bled and Suddenly Everything Has Changed are similar hymns, juxtaposing the mundanity of the everyday with the realisation of how mortal and helpless the human species are in times of change.
