By Sean R. Grogan


"Mystics be damned."

The Flaming Lips are strange guys with strange stories making strange music. And we love it. Their latest record, At War With The Mystics, is just what we needed to get over our emo slump. Backed by a wide range of influences, this newest effort from these psychedelic geniuses blends harmonious lyrics with offbeat music and Eighties pop sounds, taking you on a ride from Pink Floyd to Prince and back.

The opening track, "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," is wonderfully eccentric. Imagine if the chorus from David Hasselhoff's cover of "Hooked On A Feeling" were to meet the lyrical stylings of They Might Be Giants, and you're halfway to understanding the tone of this tune. Another standout is "The Sound of Failure/It's Dark . . . Is It Always This Dark," a song as lengthy as its title. At almost eight minutes, it's a long, relaxed track that will deliver you to the mind-altering years of the Sixties (we haven't felt this good since we met Snoop Dogg, and there's less smoke). The long instrumentals and Wayne Coyne's lilting voice are enough aural refreshment to put down a charging elephant, or a rapt listener. As the album comes to a close, it's hard to believe that this soulful record came from the same band that used to open for Husker Dü and the Rollins Band. From punk rock to tripped out rock - who knew?