The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Warner Brothers Records

Review by: Dave Morgan

The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a concept album of sorts. But it is not the obvious one. There is the surface concept story of the young girl, Yoshimi, who has to do battle with evil, pink robots. The robot she is supposed to fight falls in love with her and throws the fight. That is the "story."

The record is actually more of a concept in that it is united by a common theme throughout rather than by the story. While it is hard to pin down this theme which seems to be more of a feeling than idea, a good explanation comes from a line in the first song, "Test Flight", - "I'm a man and not a boy and there are things you can't avoid - you have to face them when you're not prepared to face them." It is a story of facing life with joyous determination.

This really comes out in the back to back tracks "It's Summertime" ("Throbbing Orange Pallbearers") and "Do You Realize?" In Do You Realize?Lips singer Wayne Coyne asks, "Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes by fast, its hard to make the good things last".

Musically this record picks up where the preceding record, The Soft Bulletin, left off - orchestral and somewhat offbeat classic pop. It's even more programmed drums and samples mixed with super-compressed live drums and acoustic guitars. Coyne's semi-nasal voice warbles atop it all. Steven Drozd, who has move from drummer into musical bandleader, makes beautiful layers and beds for Coyne's wide-eyed wonderings.

There's less rock than ever here but more depth. One More Robot with its programmed drums and laid back bass line has an almost "slow jams" feel about it. The Flaming Lips are definitely pushing the limits of pop music. Drozd and producer Dave Fridmann's arrangements are astounding. This is a record where one hears something new and different with each listen.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is not The Soft Bulletin Pt II as has been said by some reviewers. The hooks are not always as obvious as before, but it is ultimately a more rewarding listen.