The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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Having long been known for their artsy music and predilections for bizarre arrangements and science fiction inspired lyrics, the Flaming Lips remain one of those rare bands that inspire fervent fanaticism in their fans while defying categorization. Once labeled as alternative, they're now simply considered rock, but the term does them little justice, as it might for Radiohead and other bands interested in paving their own paths in a tired and regurgitated industry. Unorthodox arrangements, lyrics, and singer Wayne Coyne's inimitable voice set the Lips apart from every other band currently producing records. They play with structure and time, mix philosophical musings with sci-fi outings, producing strangely transcendental melodies and songs.

"The Fearless Freaks," director Bradley Beesley's love letter to his longtime friends, understands the Flaming Lips's sensibilities, perhaps better than anyone else. And with its unique stream-of-consciousness structure, his documentary serves as a counterpoint to their music. Having known Wayne Coyne since 1991, Beesley's been documenting the band's live shows, recording sessions, and day-to-day lives in various mediums for well over a decade, giving us an intimate portrait of the band we would not have seen had Coyne and crew hired a random filmmaker to produce this documentary.

While splitting its focus between the band, singer/songwriter Wayne Coyne, and music prodigy Steven Drozd, "The Fearless Freaks" traces the band's history while simultaneously recording Coyne and Drozd's family history.

From the band's humble beginnings in Norman, Oklahoma in 1983, to its breakout single "She Don't Use Jelly," to its reinvention after its original prodigal guitarist left the band in 1996, "The Fearless Freaks" tracks the band's history without devolving into an explotative "Behind the Music" spectacle. There is little drama here; no ego clashes, drug fueled nightmares, or trappings of success. Without the guitar player instrumental in creating the sound responsible for "Transmissions from a Satellite Heart," the album featuring "She Don't Use Jelly," the band rose from the ashes and began a new phase of their career, one that emphasized deeper meaning to its lyrics than their earlier whimsical tunes.

Refreshingly, though, "The Fearless Freaks" isn't solely concerned with the band's music; in most respects the music comes secondary and tertiary to the band members, specifically Coyne and Drozd. We're introduced to their childhood, their family lives, their inspirations and influences. But most importantly we're introduced to them.

Wayne Coyne emerges as an extremely down to Earth good old boy who happens to have a career in music. He is not pretentious or dark, cynical or pessimistic. He is the antithesis of every front man in rock history. Living in a neighborhood not far from where he grew up, Coyne resides far from the celebrity mentality; he doesn't live in a fantasy world facilitated by fame and fortune; he doesn't surround himself with a sycophantic entourage; nor does he toil in darkness and express eccentricities. He is an average Joe, a nerd who loves music and all-things creative.

Having granted Beesley unprecedented access to their personal lives, we're shown the mundane—Coyne washing his fake-bloodstained coat and mowing the lawn—the joyous, and the disturbing.

Three quarters of the way through the film, we learn that Steven Drozd is addicted to heroin, and in a candid, and somewhat bleak, scene, he allows Beesley to film him, in stark black and white photography, while he prepares and injects the drug. Talking to Beesley while he prepares the heroin, Drozd tells us that he's broke; he's squandered everything he owned on his addiction, he's even sold his instruments to the band so he won't, in a moment of weakness, pawn them off.

This type of brutal honesty is what sets "The Fearless Freaks" apart from every other film documenting popular or cult bands. Coyne's various musings on death—including the passing of his father and, years earlier, a terrifying robbery when he worked at Long John Silver's; humorously reenacted by Coyne and two children—creates a candid portrait of his humanism, optimism, and gives us insight into the melancholy and origins of a central theme he would sing about later years.

Starting from childhood and the origins of the band, the film unfolds in a loose, Joycian, stream-of-consciousness manner. The film segues from story to story, important point in the band's lives to personal revelations and anecdotes. The film's greatest weakness, however, comes from its most impressive virtue: in concerning itself with the members and their normal lives, "The Fearless Freaks" pays surprisingly little attention to the music. While there are snippets of live performances and brief clips of music videos, there's really nothing here to turn someone unfamiliar with the band into an eager fan—musically, anyway. What the film lacks in music, it makes up for in the history and theory of the band's music, but most importantly it's the band's members who will inspire them to seek out their music. Every member of the band, most notably Wayne Coyne, comes across as easy going, average, but, above all, extremely talented musicians. When all's said and done, it's their talent that's kept The Flaming Lips striving for well over two decades. And that, in an age in which mediocrity is celebrated, is as refreshing as the film's honesty.

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks (2009)

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