The Flaming Lips - Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid

The Flaming Lips

Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid (Disc One) (1984-1986):  What the hell do people see in this band? This shit is awful: all the songs go on for five minutes (two or three minutes too long for this basic garage rock), the singer is uninteresting and uncharismatic and out of tune, the entire band is out of tune (and not in a charming way), and they have the WORST guitar tone EVER: it’s fuzzy and trebly and screechy and despite its excessive volume does not rock, at all. This is the first disc of a 3-disc box set and consists of their first EP and first LP plus 4 bonus tracks. The early Lips’ saving grace is that even at that point, they were occasionally decent songwriters – a few of these tunes would not have been out of place on a Nuggets-style collection of mid-‘60s garage rock. And I suppose I should give them bonus points for establishing a sorta-intriguing and definitely unique “creepy psycho-hippie” acid-damaged atmosphere. If you’re interested in this band, this is definitely NOT the place to start. **