SEWARD: Seeing what cannot be seen, The Flaming Lips' bizarre risk-taking
Column: Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward
The Flaming Lips were not meant to be alt-rock superstars. Formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, they chugged in the underground for several years, developing a noisy and psychedelic yet hook-driven sound.
They began approaching success with their 1989 release "Telepathic Surgery" and 1990 album "In a Priest Driven Ambulance." Yes, those are real album titles — what they mean, I do not know, but we can likely assume it was an inside joke between stoned bandmates that none of us can comprehend.
When discussing early Lips albums, the most relevant one is their 1993 effort, "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart." More specifically, one song: the fourth track, "She Don’t Use Jelly."
"She Don't Use Jelly" is a nonsense song. Lead singer Wayne Coyne described it as having "some kind of innocent little sexual thing that ran through the whole song." While Coyne would know the song's meaning best, it is difficult to decipher anything from the absurd lyrics that range from discussing a man who blows his nose with magazines to a girl who dyes her hair with tangerines.
Naturally, in the era where Beck’s "Loser" could be a top ten hit, and a band named the Butthole Surfers actually has a chance at mainstream success, "She Don’t Use Jelly" became the Lips' first — and to this date, only — charting hit, despite the band's later critical success.
While I believe the rest of "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart" holds up to the standard set by the breakout single, the mainstream media disagreed. Realistically, The Lips were destined to become a one-hit wonder. They were a bunch of Oklahoman weirdos who happened to write a weird, catchy song at a time when weird and catchy songs were the zeitgeist.
The performance of their following albums agreed with this. "Clouds Taste Metallic" was a continuation of the fuzzy-pop sound that they had become known for, and it was initially projected to sell quite well due to the unexpected success of "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart." Despite these projections, the sales never came.
Their follow-up to "Clouds Taste Metallic" was even weirder. "Zaireeka" was birthed from experiences Coyne had when he was younger.
"Occasionally, you'd walk through a piece of the parking lot where two or three people are playing the same song, they’re just not playing at the same time," Coyne said. "I was probably the only one, but I remember being like, this is f*cking cool. Someone should make an album like this."
Coyne and his bandmates certainly did make an album like that. It was birthed from "The Parking Lot Experiments," in which the band would record fragments of different instruments across 50 to 60 cassettes. The Lips would then invite people to play these snippets in their car tape decks. The group was looking to create an immersive soundscape of noise. In this way, they were similar to the ones Coyne had heard when he was younger.
"Zaireeka" is made to be played across four different speakers, with each speaker playing a separate CD. The aim would be to replicate the "Parking Lot Experiments" onto a wider-scale product.
"Zaireeka" was poorly received by the musical public, with nascent music review outlet Pitchfork notoriously giving it a 0.0/10, dubbing the songs "completely useless things no one should have bothered with." Yet it represents a bold first step in the evolution of the Lips, showing a new side to the noise-pop outfit known for a novelty hit: that they had ambition and the drive to follow it up.
The band's next release, "The Soft Bulletin," would not be as experimental as "Zaireeka," although there is an argument to be had that nothing is quite as experimental as the group's 1997 album. The new release would be experimental for the Lips, as it represented a drastic change in sound, opting for symphonies instead of fuzzy guitars, which had dominated their work until this point.
Unlike "Zaireeka," "The Soft Bulletin" was universally acclaimed by critics, with the same outfit that gave "Zaireeka" a zero (in fact, the same reviewer), giving the new release a 10/10. Many other outfits gave heaping praise to the lush orchestration and bittersweet lullabies that overran the album. This risk had paid off.
Risk-taking is something we all experience in life. Whether it be through creative pursuits, romantic interest or even just raising your hand in class, the risks of any given situation will certainly dominate our minds. It may seem easier to just avoid the risks, to stay inside the bubble. No one gets hurt in the bubble. It is something I have told myself for a hefty portion of my adult life.
Writing articles is a risk for me, as I fear that I will be judged for the message or quality of my writing. Maybe I am, but I choose to take that risk anyway because taking the plunge has been more rewarding than I could ever dream of.
While most of us will not have the opportunity to do something as bold as "Zaireeka," any pursuit of risk remains worthwhile if it can change your life for the better.
Look at what it did for the Lips.
Samuel Seward is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in political science and minoring in English. His column, "Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward," runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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