(2019) The Flaming Lips - King's Mouth

Review:
It says a lot about the general weirdness of the Flaming Lips that when they make a concept album featuring narration by Mick Jones of the Clash, it barely registers a blip on the “odd” scale. Surely, King’s Mouth: Music and Songs is a delightfully strange album, but this is a band that made an experimental four-disc set meant to play simultaneously on four CD players (the ambitious, if slightly flawed Zaireeka), a Dark Side of the Moon tribute album, and have cultivated a difficult-to-explain relationship with pop singer Miley Cyrus. The Flaming Lips rarely do anything by the book. Having said that, King’s Mouth – released in limited (4,000 copies) gold vinyl for Record Store Day, with a general release in July – is pretty standard Flaming Lips fare. The usual sonic structure is in place: belching analog synths, strumming acoustic guitars, frontman Wayne Coyne’s off-key crooning. If anything, the album comes off as a more low-key version of their standard sound. An interesting wrinkle with this particular album is that it parallels Coyne’s immersive art installation of the same name, showcased in museums in New Mexico, Oregon, Maryland, and the band’s home state of Oklahoma. Perhaps the airier, less abrasive sound on King’s Mouth is the result of Coyne attempting a more inclusive piece of art.

Tracklist:
01 - We Don't Know How and We Don't Know Why
02 - The Sparrow
03 - Giant Baby
04 - Mother Universe
05 - How Many Times
06 - Electric Fire
07 - All for the Life of the City
08 - Feedaloodum Beedle Dot
09 - Funeral Parade
10 - Dipped in Steel
11 - Mouth of the King
12 - How Can a Head

Summary:
Country: USA
Genre: alternative rock, psychedelic rock