The Flaming Lips: "The W.A.N.D."

Here comes the backlash, though I never bought it to begin with. Fuck The Soft Bulletin; you’re telling me that a series of half-baked songs with tricked-out production and the word “scientist” in them is one of the top ten albums of the ‘90s? We can do better than that. I always felt like Yoshimi was vindication for my inability to connect with the band, the pompous soundtrack to a group of musicians crumbling beneath their own self-importance. They always seemed like Sufjan’s counterpart: talented, accomplished, I get it, but so irrelevant. How can something be insulated and cold at the same time?

So I’ve probably lost you already, you Bulletin lovers. I don’t like “The W.A.N.D.” either, and, lest this turn into a blog entry, allow me to assess the music. The band sits idly on one funk lick, and hopefully you like it, because it’s all the song has to offer. The riff is a quick thick backflip, a fuzzy Fridmann thud. Drozd brings the funk, which he tends to, and Coyne brings the coy, which he tends to. And spout those dipshit hippy chic lyrics: “Why can't they see it's not power, just greed, to just want more and more?” Whatever, dude. The only engaging moment comes, of course, with a production trick, an echoing explosion of “You’ve got that right!” seconds before the song ends. Sounds like the flame’s finally dying out.