It’s possible that Oczy Mlody will disappoint those looking for an easy hit, or the sound of old-school Lips, but for those willing to persist and explore, it’s a work of nuance and intelligence.
Oczy Mlody doesn't overwhelm or immediately impress, but instead invites listeners into its elusory world of crossed senses, unassigned values, and blind turns, hoping they end up in the same place Coyne thinks he's headed: to an idyllic future state that feels just like the past.
The music delivers on successfully altering the body and mind in the iconic band’s latest chef-d'oeuvre cook up.
This is the most vital Lips record in a while and, true to their paradoxical style, is one of their subtlest, too.
It’s a lovely, silly, serious work that draws one in despite the bursts of utopian cosmo-babble.
Oczy Mlody is not an immediate album, but give it chance and it has the power to draw the listener back time and again, and becomes quite addictive. A very successful return from everyone’s favourite Oklahoma all-stars.
A good Flaming Lips album is all about scale, and while it’s not as boldly experimental as some of their past work (think Yoshimi part 2, rather than Zaireeka), the album still manages to map out worlds within itself.
Oczy Mlody continues the Lips’ longstanding mission to explore the joy and sadness of simple human consciousness, so that even when the album loses its footing – which it does, often – it never loses its way.
They’ve managed to meld together the grand themes of ‘The Soft Bulletin’ and ‘Yoshimi…’ with some of the experimentation of ‘Embryonic’ and ‘The Terror’, and it makes for a fascinating return.
Some of their sillier excesses may jar ever so slightly and fans may well feel the absence of a true pop banger ... In every other aspect, however, this is The Flaming Lips on top of their game: refracting the weirdness of the world through a youthful sense of awe and wonder.
With Oczy Mlody, The Flaming Lips have managed to take us on apocalyptic journey that’s also fun, which is no mean feat. If the 'real' end of the world is half as fun, we’ll all be alright.
They continue pushing boundaries using familiar sounds as starting points, fusing warped electronic and ambient atmospheres with fried psychedelics, and with even less emphasis on anything resembling conventional "rock" music.
On Oczy Mlody Oklahoma City’s finest manage to build a bridge to the rest of us norms, making some of their must listenable and straight-up lovely music along the way.
Save for a few moments, it’s generally slow and somber. Sure, the imagery is some of their most blacklight poster-inspired to date, but even the most druggy reference isn’t without a touch of sadness, a party lingering on too long as the morning starts to break.
As they move on from the crises that inspired The Terror, they bridge the abrasive sound that started on 2009's Embryonic and the try-anything whimsy of their collaboration with Miley Cyrus in ways that are surprisingly complex.
While Oczy Mlody finds the Lips still eager to stretch the parameters of their aesthetic 30-plus years into the game, this time, it leaves them sounding a little distended and shapeless.
‘Oczy Mlody’ is the sonic equivalent of a deserted space-ship adrift in the cosmos, with Coyne as the lonely repair-bot dusting the diodes. A psych rock Passengers, then, rather than Barbarella.
In stark contrast to the razor-sharp sense of purpose and unity of its predecessors, the album's meandering lack of focus soon becomes impossible to ignore.
The album is a bitter pill at first but it pays off to tune in and turn on.
Unfortunately, Oczy Mlody fails to keep building on the momentum of its studio album predecessors. Though the record builds on The Terror's cerebral paranoia, its occasional forays into Casiotone drum beats and nonsensical lyrics make it an uneven, confusing effort.
The band has become pros at surprises, and their new record Oczy Mlody is their biggest surprise yet: it’s a disappointment.
The Flaming Lips follow up their 2013 album The Terror with a less emotionally and texturally rich project.
Rich in interesting R&B-influenced textures, its songs too often fail to engage, particularly on a ponderous second half.
Oczy Mlody feels less like the group’s 14th grand artistic statement and more like a minor footnote to a once-great band’s recent output.
Oczy Mlody at times feels like a pale imitation of The Flaming Lips, by someone who only knew of the band through their reputation for quirky antics and hyperactive, costumed live shows. The problem is that whilst it occasionally gets the stylistic elements right, there’s very little substance.
My only main issue with this record is that while it has strong ideas and a great atmospheric vibe, the individual tracks lack much to stand out from one another in my opinion.
I've heard quite a lot of bad things about this album, mostly regarding it having boring songwriting and no songs that really jump out at you. And honestly the intro is… fine? It really does do much, doesn't really sound like a flaming Lips track, it just kinda sounds like some random ambient thing. I'm sure it doesn't help that there are no vocals also.
I like a lot of the synth textures and effects on How?? But as a song, it is quite boring, it really doesn't bring out any sort of ... read more
some good tracks here, but too much of this album feels meandering, boring, or pointlessly weird for no reason. i really dont see what some other people find amazing here, this is easily one of the weakest things the flips have ever done
My only main issue with this record is that while it has strong ideas and a great atmospheric vibe, the individual tracks lack much to stand out from one another in my opinion.
I like the airy, ambient, and futuristic sound they go for on the meditative title track, but some of these songs just stink.
1 | Oczy mlody 2:53 | 59 |
2 | How?? 4:24 | 62 |
3 | There Should Be Unicorns 5:49 | 58 |
4 | Sunrise (Eyes of the Young) 4:05 | 66 |
5 | Nigdy nie (Never No) 4:10 | 68 |
6 | Galaxy I Sink 3:57 | 67 |
7 | One Night While Hunting for Faeries and Witches and Wizards to Kill 6:07 | 67 |
8 | Do glowy 4:18 | 58 |
9 | Listening to the Frogs With Demon Eyes 7:35 | 64 |
10 | The Castle 4:50 | 62 |
11 | Almost Home (Blisko domu) 4:53 | 59 |
12 | We a Famly 4:44 | 56 |
#24 | / | Diffuser |
#29 | / | Louder Than War |
#89 | / | Under the Radar |
#95 | / | Fopp |
/ | Esquire (UK) |