THE FLAMING LIPS

'The Fearless Freaks (The Life & Times of an American Invention)'

Let me preface this review, by saying those of you who have never experienced a live performance by one of the most interesting bands on the planet...shame, shame, shame. Part sci-fi/b-grade horror movie/Bugs Bunny cartoon performance art (okay, a LARGE part) and part psychedelic pep band dance party, it is an experience not to be missed. It may sound corny, but it's a show that'll make you glad to be alive...or maybe even okay that you're going to die (eventually).

Anyhow, this excellent documentary chronicaling Oklahoma City's weirdest sons, dropped on DVD a few weeks back. Filmed by Bradley Beesley, who's been collaborating w/ the Lips since 1991, The Fearless Freaks does a wonderful job at illustrating just why this band and it's members are so fascinating. Lovingly put together from over 400 hours of footage, you not only get a look into the band's musical evolution...but the family life that brought them there.

The human element provided by the family movies and interviews w/ family members of both lead singer Wayne Coyne's and multi-instrumetalist's Steven Drozd, add an 'American Acid Punk Rock Success Story' to this film. The documentary's title comes from a semi-weekly sandlot tackle football game, where a team made up of teens including Wayne and his brothers would get whacked out of their heads and basically kick the shit out of each other. The influence of family into what this band has become and the access you're given to it via this film is pretty cool.

From a musical perspective, Beesley captures the Lips journey from the earliest stages of the band through Wayne's triumphant walk over the crowd at Coachella in a giant bubble. As much as I love this band, i've always stated that the performance aspect of the band liberally borrowed from the same bag of tricks used by The Butthole Surfers before them. I was very pleased to see that called out and spoken to by both Wayne and Gibby Haynes himself. I think musically however, that they've gone way beyond the Surfers in scope and continue to push boundaries. Plenty of footage of recording sessions, live performances, parking lot & boombox experiments (watch the movie)...a healthy buffet of everything that one would need to see and hear to understand what they're about.

I'm a music documentary nut and this one is a keeper. The bonus disc is full of fun stuff, my only complaint being the live performances included looked like they were filmed on handheld VHS and only covered the band's performances in the front half of the 90's. Check out the trailer in either Windows or Quicktime .

On CD, I highly recommend the following:


(L to R) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots