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Rumour has it the band started when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne stole a cache of musical instruments from a church hall and invited his vocalist brother Mark Coyne and Michael Ivins, the bassist, to start a band. Following a succession of drummers, Richard English was chosen as the band’s percussionist and who joined the band to record their self-titled album, released in 1985 on their very own label Lovely Sorts of Death.
Rarely has there been a band of such eclectic and esoteric appeal, a band’s whose proclivity for the surreal formed a sporadic pop career. The Flaming lips is often associated with psychedelic culture and many of the themes in the Flaming Lips’ earlier releases share this fascination for science fiction, space opera and the metaphysical world. A string of recordings on independent labels saw the band expand on their sound introducing tape loops and guitar and vocal effects. The band signed to Warner Bros. in 1990 after a representative of the label saw The Flaming Lips almost burn down a venue in Oklahoma, U.S. using pyrotechnics.
The album “Transmission from the Satellite Heart” released in 1993 was the first in which producer Dave Fridmann had not been involved. The album and in particular the song “She Don’t Use Jelly” saw the band have a more mainstream appeal and feature on a number of TV shows including Beverly Hills and Beavis and Butt-head, as well as long stints of touring, opening for the likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
There biggest breakthrough however, came following the release of 1999’s “The Soft Bulletin”, which drew similarities between it and The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” due to its orchestral sounds and traditional catchy melodies.
By 2007 after releasing two more full-length albums the band had won three Grammy Awards, one for Best Engineered Album in 2007 for “A War With Mystics” and two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) and “The Wizard Turns On…”. Since then the band has released a whopping 16 albums and have used their critical acclaim to collaborate with an impressive group of past and current musicians from Neon Indian, to Nick Cave and Erykah Badu. The Flaming Lips can seemingly do no wrong.
Originally comprised of vocalist David Baker, vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitarist/clarinetist Sean Mackowiak, flutist Suzanne Thorpe, bassist Dave Fridmann, and drummer Jimy Chambers, the group's lineup experienced personal conflicts from the get-go. Initially formed as a vehicle for creating the soundtracks to their experimental student films, the band’s members infrequently communicated with each until signing with Rough Trade Records. Whilst working as a concert promoter Donahue put a Mercury Rev show on with support from Oklahoma’s Flaming Lips and along with Fridmann became long-term collaborators with the group.
In 1991 Mercury Rev issued their debut full-length album “Yerself Is Steam” to widespread critical acclaim. Led by the epic experimental tracks “Chasing a Bee”, “Coney Island Cyclone”, and “Frittering”, the album lacked promotion and distribution due to U.S. Rough Trade filling for bankruptcy shortly after the release. Despite this the record earned the band a significant cult following and was supported by a tumultuous UK tour that ended with Donahue attempting to gouge out Mackowiak’s eye with a spoon. The group’s second critically acclaimed album “BOCES” arrived in 1993 following which Mercury Rev were kicked off the year’s Lollapalooza tour for making too much noise, and lead vocalist Baker was kicked out the band.
Taking leave of Baker’s darker and more experimental excursions, Mercury Rev’s third full-length, 1995’s “See You on the Other Side”, proved their most emotionally compelling to date. The same year the band issued the album “Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel”, before making their debut on the UK Albums Chart with the full-length “Deserter’s Songs” in 1998. Mercury Rev’s subsequent album “All Is Dream” arrived in 2011, rose to No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart, and landed on a number of the year’s best-of lists. The albums “The Secret Migration” and “Snowflake Midnight” appeared in 2005 and 2008, respectively, followed by “The Light in You” in September 2015.
My friend is a Flaming Lips fan, but I was not so impressed. We went to a music festival together and for the sake of staying together I went with them to see them play.
My first impression from the strange people and decorations was, "oh great one of "these" bands." But once the opening song "The Fear," played I felt it really pierced into me. The rhythm vibrating through the speakers touched me mentally and physically. I felt the hum in my heart and the beat in my mind.
I could feel the same from everyone around me and suddenly we were all swaying in harmony as Michael used his bass to lull us into a rhythmic trance. When the song was over they picked up into a faster song and it was like I felt the urge to dance. The whole show played nicely together one song into the next.
When we went home that night I had to tell my friend how much I was impressed with them live. In comparison to their recordings I felt they were a band that had to be experienced live. It was a memorable time.
Mercury Rev have been pushing the boundaries of sonic discovery since Sean ‘Grasshopper’ Mackowiak and David ‘Shady’ Baker got together in the late 1980s to try and make some cosmic American music. Partly successful until Baker’s behaviour saw him having to leave the band, he was replaced by Jonathan Donahue and it was at this point that Mercury Rev became the glorious band they remain today. 1998 saw them release the seminal Deserter’s Songs, a tribute to America’s rich musical history (signalled by the guest spots of two members of The Band) while also being a record of spacey, dreamy ambition that they’ve yet to match. These days, the band (the studio version of which includes legendary producer Dave Fridmann) tend to perform Deserter’s Songs in full when performing live – and when you witness this spectacle live you can understand why. As Grasshopper performs stunning fireworks with the guitar, the shamanic presence of Donahue beguiles you with the childlike wonder in his high, reedy vocal. To experience "Holes," the modern classic "Godess on a Hiway" and the blues thud of "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" is to be in the presence of greatness. Although new songs are few and far between these days, it never feels like you’re missing out on new Mercury Rev material as these tracks sound as fresh as they did over fifteen years ago.