Speed of Sound
Denmark’s The William Blakes may have named its album for the frontman of The Flaming Lips but with the exception of a few moments where lead singer Kristian Leth’s voice cracks in a Coyne-like manner there isn’t much resemblance to that band. In fact it’s hard to categorize Wayne Coyne in any way at all. You could call it off-kilter ’80-influenced pop which would speak to the quirky horn arrangements and scribbled-in guitar leads. It wouldn’t however explain the oddly ominous pseudo chanting or the synthy disco-influenced nod to Michael Jackson on the title track. Regardless of what they are doing the question is how well does it all work together? As an album Wayne Coyne isn’t cohesive in the least but track-by-track these songs are curiously compelling and mercifully lack the kind of self-consciousness that would plague a domestic band attempting the same thing. There’s a lot to be said for European bands working in an American rock esthetic. Something gets lost in translation but what comes across instead is infinitely more interesting.
