Day 338: The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Today, I needed a mellow background album, so I thought I’d go for a classic early 2000s album by a band that has passed me by. Maybe that’s because they never really ended up on my radar, or because they have an unpleasantly descriptive name that sounds like a medical issue I don’t want to have. Anyway, better late than never, it’s time to listen to the Flaming Lips.

Album cover courtesy of Warner Bros

The Flaming Lips was formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City by guitarist Wayne Coyne, along with his brother Mark Coyne as the vocalist and Michael Ivins on the bass. Mark Coyne left the band in 1985 when he was getting married, so Wayne switched to being the group’s vocalist and primary songwriter. They were born from the punk scene in Oklahoma and have morphed into one of the biggest alternative bands in the world, who are still going strong today.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was released in July 2002 as the group’s tenth studio album. It represented a shift in their direction as a band as it took them into a more electronic sound, and the album became viewed as their most critically and commercially successful release to date. At one stage, there was even a play that was made on the basis of the album.

While it’s not strictly speaking a concept album, the story that it’s centred around is of a young Japanese woman called Yoshimi  who is fighting giant evil robots, but it mainly consists of more general musings about life, death and relationships, with some robots peppered in. Fans theorise that the album is about a young girl battling cancer, but the band said the theme came about when they were messing around with vocals provided by Japanese musician Yoshimi P-we, and said a clip sounded like she’s either having sex or fighting robots.

The peak of the album is “Do You Realise??”, which is like an uncomfortable musical memento mori with ultimately a pretty good message, but it’s a perfect example of how what these guys do is simultaneously pleasant and a little bit unsettling. It’s relaxing music in theory – it sounds like it should be relaxing, but something about it keeps you on the edge of your seat a little bit. They’re able to build a sonic environment of comfort and slight discomfort at the same time in a way that ends up sounding unique.

To quote a character from Beverly Hills 90210 when the Flaming Lips appeared in an episode playing at the Peach Pit, “you know, I’ve never really been a fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!” It’s a very strong album with a real charm to it, even if the story of it is a bit shaky. I’m giving it an 8.5/10.