# The Flaming Lips’ ‘The Soft Bulletin Companion’

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2021/08/the-flaming-lips-the-soft-bulletin-companion/
- Published: 2021-08-02T04:24:40-04:00
- Author: IRC Staff

The Flaming Lips ’ _Soft Bulletin_ was a watershed moment for the Oklahoma City
rock band. Released in 1999, it was a moment when the group essentially started 
all over again with something wholly new as they reacted to the death of Wayne Coyne’s
father, as well as other deaths of loved ones experienced by longtime guitarist 
and keyboardist Steven Drozd. Dubbed by a few bold critics at the time as the _Pet
Sounds_ of the ’90s, their ninth studio record started to unlock a whole new level
of festival audience far beyond what came before for the psychedelic weirdos from
the Sooner State.

Frontman Wayne Coyne has often referred to rare Flaming Lips hits during past interviews
as gifts from the “gods of music.” Concert staples such as “Do You Realize??” or
the title track off 2002’s _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ are moments when the
gods bent down and tapped the band on the shoulder, said it was time, and rewarded
the good work they had set up previously with the best tracks on _The Soft Bulletin_
only three years before (“Race for the Prize” and “Waiting for a Superman”).

It’s abundantly clear that _The Soft Bulletin Companion_ is a compilation of curios
for diehard fans of a monumental album from early in the band’s nearly 40 years 
of existence. There are odd experiments, melodic dead ends, plenty of outtakes, 
prototype mixes, and everything in between on this 13-song collection originally
intended by the band’s manager and Warner Bros. as a promo-only CD to pair alongside
_The Soft Bulletin_. It’s seen new life this year during Record Store Day, and longtime
fans of the band will take note of hearing rarities like the fuzzed, psychedelic
rocker “The Captain,” which are a welcome sight on vinyl after years of being hard
to find.

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Also, it’s nice to hear a couple stereo versions of tracks from the endlessly curious
1997 experimental release _Zaireeka _(which, infamously, was ideally played from
four separate CDs blasted in unison from different car sound systems). In other 
corners of the release, a Lips Mix of _The Soft Bulletin_’s “Buggin’” and an early
mix of “The Spiderbite Song” both fall far short of the quality heard on the original
_Soft Bulletin_ classics.

_The Soft Bulletin Companion’s_ early versions of “Slow Motion”and “Little Hands”
are also not too bad, and remind you of the band’s songwriting chops during the 
period, with Coyne directing the band on the rough mix of the latter track. _The
Soft Bulletin_ still stands as a classic where the best of ’90s experimental rock
and pop collided, and its companion piece does sit fairly comfortably in its long
shadow. Seeking this one out as a chaser to another long sip on the_ Soft Bulletin_
vibe is the best way to experience it.