Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

It's a concept album, sort of, or maybe it isn't. The CD's title seems to apply only to the first four or five songs that surround a theme right out of The Iron Giant. The rest are philosophical musings about life, love and death, not necessarily in that order or of any particular relevance. Don't matter, though, because you reach for The Lips for the trippy arrangements, dreamy melodies and the occasional experiment or two that either takes it to another level or falls flat on its face.

For those who haven't been to the well before, think Pet Sounds in space sung by a slightly nasal muppet. There are fewer experiments this time 'round, and as a result, Yoshimi is less interesting than their career landmark, The Soft Bulletin. Still, I like the tunes better, as well as the overall embraceability of tracks like the sun-lit rocker "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1," the chiming "Do You Realize?" and the grinning-through-tears "It's Summertime" -- all radio hits if I ever heard one. Too bad they'll never be heard on any radios around here.

Lips followers will notice more acoustic guitars and drum machines then usual, and that the tracks are drenched in afternoon-light -- subtle, almost purposely mello. Yoshimi is a sweet diversion, an empty-calorie audio confectionery -- and all the better for it.

back to   Published in The Omaha Weekly July 31, 2002. Copyright © 2002 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.