The songwriting and composing also shines through on almost every track. If nothing else, The Soft Bulletin is an absolutely stunning record from a sonic standpoint, creating a dense, mesmerizing, and beautiful atmosphere. The drums fills at the beginning of ‘The Spiderbite Song’ or the pitch-shifted gang vocals ‘The Gash’ could appear like pointless experimentalism, but work perfectly with their respective songs. Instead there is a lush synthetic orchestra harps, strings, brass, drums, and clean guitar swirl seamlessly together, creating an effect that is just as, if not more, emotive than any distorted guitar wankery. There are no massive guitar riffs, no feedback trickery, nothing that would categorize this album as rock music. The first thing that needs to be said about the Soft Bulletin is that it sounds absolutely flawless. Everything that you need to know about the Soft Bulletin exist in the span of 12 songs. It doesn’t need to have a monumental legacy in the indie community and an influence on musicians to this day. It doesn’t require an intricate backstory to appreciate (even though a backstory does exist). An album like the Soft Bulletin, however, defies context. Their insane antics, 24 hour long songs, Miley Cyrus collaborations, and in-band feuding has overshadowed not only their excellent and ever innovative musical output, but also their legacy: The Flaming Lips are now that band with the old dude who sang a song about robots with that blonde disney chick, not legends who constantly push their music to new extremes.
The new decade has been rough on the Flaming Lips. Review Summary: A perfect moment of pure honesty from Wayne and the gang