At War With The Mystics (review)

Released in 2006, At War With The Mystics is The Flaming Lips’ fourteenth album. As unusual as they are erratic, The Flaming Lips have been stirring up trouble since 1986. True to form, this album is full of abstract lyrics and titles, stemming from the imagination of the drug inhabited mind of front man, Wayne Coyne. The creativity and spontaneity in this band, and particularly Coyne, is shown in such songs as “Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)” and “The Wizard Turns On…The Giant Silver Flashlight And Puts On His Werewolf Moccasins”. Almost every Flaming Lips song that I have listened to has had me replaying it over and over, trying to make some sense of the lyrics (instrumentals are the exception). I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way to fully enjoy their music without the pressure of trying to make something of the lyrics; that is to understand that quintessentially, most of the lyrics are simply incomprehensible. Despite their ill-mannered behavior and incredibly strange sound, The Flaming Lips do have a tendency to infuse socially and politically relevant issues into their songs.
It is very safe to say that this band is not for everyone. I would not recommend this album to those who look for any sort of structure or consistency in their music. I would however, recommend this album (and band) to those seeking music from far, far beyond the pale, or any brave soul who has the time and patience to try and decipher the Lips’ code.