The Flaming Lips Enter Darker Waters
Baring the 2014 headdress incident that cost them a drummer, it’s hard to argue that The Flaming Lips are in any way politically charged. Their experimental brand of psychedelic rock always seemed drawn from a personal space, i.e. the lived experience of frontman Wayne Conye (their 2013 album The Terror was the most brooding and contemplative they had produced, and it came in the aftermath of a separation between Conye and his longtime partner). They’ve always been able to sidestep whatever’s happening politically, but even Conye seems affected by the zaniness of the modern political landscape. Oczy Mlody feels, in many ways, like a reflection of the current zeitgeist, with a finger on the pulse of an America that increasingly feels like it’s in the depths of a bad shroom trip.
“How??”, the album’s second track, begins with the edict, “White trash rednecks, earthworms eat the ground / Legalize it, every drug right now.” The surreality of these lines feel like something out of Burroughs, projecting a world in which absurdity has become the fundamental state of affairs. The instrumentation complements these ideas, giving a dreamlike and elegiac atmosphere to the 12 song track list. Many songs build upon these qualities and seem to strive for even grander musical ideas, but are consistently undercut by lyrics which hang with awkward simplicity, “A bird is singing / Singing really loud / A jet is flying / Flying through a cloud.” It never becomes clear whether these lines are meant as an ironic pairing with the instrumentation or are merely poetic misfires, but they continue to be spun out over the course of the album’s 58 minutes.
Occasionally, the album elevates and begins to sound almost angelic. It’s in this strata that you’ll find Oczy Mlody‘s most catchy and memorable song, “The Castle.” It’s carried by a whimsical percussive dissonance and lyrics which dissects the beloved in the style of ancient sonnets: “Her eyes were butterflies / Her smile was a rainbow / Her hair was sunbeam waves / Shining around like a halo.” It’s an ethereal, uniquely grounded composition tucked towards the end of an otherwise turbulent track list. While it may not best represent the album, it does, along with “Sunrise (Eyes Of The Young),” work to balance out what would otherwise be a dense listening experience.
Oczy Mlody is not always easy listening, but that’s perhaps its strongest attribute. It creates an atmosphere of confusion that seems deliberate, and through the murk manages, optimistically, to find humor. Lessons like these couldn’t be delivered at a more ideal historical time. After 30 years of making music, The Flaming Lips may have gained the one attribute that most bands don’t even think to seek: wisdom.
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