The Flaming Lips Gummi Skull EP
Warner

 
Coming up with the idea and the prototype a few months earlier. Wayne Coyne at 4:20pm on 4/20 (American dating system) (yeah, yeah {yeah!} make your 4 20 jokes now…) Delivered 10 of the finished product to his local record store in his home town of Oklahoma. Which marked the official release of the new EP. The gummy skull is an exact replica of the human skull and was hand crafted by a renowned North Carolinian gummy artist and weighs a staggering 7 pounds and inside the brain contains a USB stick with the four song EP inside.
 
I won't lie, it is an untraditional method of releasing music.
 
But as far out as the method of release sounds, the music is equal and takes it one step further. Putting it up there as some of The Flaming Lips most experimental and psychedelic work.
 
 
Opener 'Drug Chart' is debatably the most accessible song on the EP. Beginning with random noise and then erupting into a commanding drum beat with a guitar or synth noise that sounds like it wouldn't have been out of place on 2009's opus, 'Embryonic. Just over a third of the way through, guitar enters and Wayne Coyne begins singing with a  vocal line buried in the mix to the point where what he is singing can not be recognised and only the rhythm of the lyrics can be picked up upon. The song is no where near optimistic and sounds rather bleak a lot like the preceding EP, the collaboration with Neon Indian 'Is David Bowie Dying'. In the back part of the song noise spurts into both ear pieces with a almost jazzy guitar line dueling with Wayne Coyne's background vocal complementation. The opening line to Drug Chart and probably the only one you can really hear throughout the whole song is 'Lost in concentration'. Which kind of sums up the whole song. But god damn this song works!
 
'In our Bodies In Our Heads' starts off with an up-tempo jazz-ish lo-fi  drum sound and then is taken over by a wah saturated guitar solo bursting through the left ear piece of your head phone which really drives the track along. This song is a very rocking psychedelic number which at points is more accessible than 'Drug Chart'. Vocals arrive late in the song with a vocal harmony that incorporates vocal modulation, falsetto and a number of other random noises to makes a Pink Floyd/The Knife choir. This song sounds like a band working together in what sounds to be a free form noise jam but then erupts into a (definitely experimental) pop song in terms of structure and listenability. A synth that sounds like it could have been off Blade Runner closes this 4min 44sec jam fest.
 
'Walk With Me' sounds like a combination of 'The Sparrow Looks up at the Machine' and 'Worm Mountain' off Embryonic. But at the same time it is its own pure entity. It is a heavy bass number with the kick drum and the fuzz bass lines combined equaling to a ground moving experience. Wayne Coyne takes a bass/baritone approach to his vocals with Steven Drozd in the background providing a lo-fi delayed falsetto accompaniment. This song deals on a lot of vocal themes that past Flaming Lips releases have dealt with such as rambling on about time machines and time itself. Some of the best effects and experimentation on the EP are found within this song with digital skipping on vocals and random synth strangeness commanding to be heard. Within the last minute the song builds and builds with effects zipping all the round the place and Coyne yelling in your right ear 'Into Time'. This is a song that deserves to be played really loud when you have no energy left in your body. This song has an almost drone approach to it.
 
At the end of Walk With Me comes a strange daffy duck sounding loop (I'm guessing made by a synthesiser combined with a number of effects like phasers and who knows what!. The nine minute free-form 'Hilary's Time Machine' features a reverb ridden guitar, reminiscent of early, early Pink Floyd being the only real driving force in the song. The rest is a combination of noises as if someone was slowly letting air out of a balloon, a gradual white noise build up, random ramblings in the background and a digital piano being played at random intervals often in response to the guitar. When trying to think of comparisons to this 'song' I came up with nothing. This would be the song that could make or break the Gummy Skull for you. It is much more of a soundscape and a atmosphere than a song and I still cant tell whether I like it or what to do with it.

With the four songs clocking in at 25mins, one doesn't feel unsatisfied in any way with albums becoming shorter and shorter in length and number of tracks. The intended version, (which is a even more limited release) has a runtime of over an hour with Hilarys Time Machine clocking in at just under 20min.
 
The direction in conjunction with the Neon Indian collaboration is a very clear direction of where The Flaming Lips music is heading. This is an experimental record and in terms of creativity is comparable to the 4 disc Zaireeka (where one must have 4 cd players and play all four discs included all at the same time in order to listen to the album as intended.{With a 12 smart phone digital app in the works}) released nearly 15 years ago. On the image of the widely used cover for the skull it states 'Legalise Marijuana Now!' and coupled with the intriguing 4.20 release method, this EP lives and warrants that markets fanfare (despite the fact it is a 3.5kg gummy skull… damn, I am a master of witty comedy).
 
For fans of 'The Soft Bulletin' style of The Flaming Lips you may very well hate this EP. But if you enjoyed 'Embryonic' (Which I believe it to be one of the greatest releases in the last 20yrs...) You will love this EP.
 
With the method of release and everything that they are doing, The Flaming Lips are the most innovative and interesting band to watch and follow (and I am not even taking into account their once in a lifetime live shows!)
 
One can only hope that Gummy Skulls are the new method of releasing material. It is by far way better than the cassette tape revival!
 
 
9.45/10
  
Bradley Armstrong


This review was based on the release made available on the internet and can be found for listening at http://www.somekindofawesome.com/journal/2011/4/21/listen-hear-all-4-songs-from-the-flaming-lips-gummi-skull-us.html


Word on the street is The Flaming Lips are releasing a live version of 'The Soft Bulletin' in a gummy skull... A strawberry flavoured skull with a marijuana brain...

Another word on the street is there will be a new Flaming Lips EP very very soon!

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