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June 24, 2005

New Flaming Lips: "Mr. Ambulance Driver"

From The Wedding Crashers soundtrack...
The Flaming Lips - "Mr. Ambulance Driver" (MP3 link removed)

Pitchfork's not impressed, but they do classify it as "Indie-Yuppie." Heh.

Posted at 10:41 AM




36 Comments

Yeeeaah but, Pitchfork says a lot of things.

Posted by: Blu at 06/24/05 11:48 AM | Reply
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Ahhh! Why are you guys advertising Dredg? I'm horrified...last week I walked into the radio station that I intern at and saw a Dredg single on the directors desk! What is going on!? I've seen these guys sooo many times by default (I mistakenly got to the show early enough for the opening band which usually was Dredg!) and they are in my humble, somewhat meaningful opinion, horrible!

Tell me you're just doing it for the money and you have no faith in this band...puh-leeese!

Posted by: Biz at 06/24/05 11:52 AM | Reply
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Eh. It's sub-B-side, but it's not terrible.

Posted by: Glenn at 06/24/05 12:05 PM | Reply
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Dang, I work at a radio station and I saw a Dredg single on the desk too. IT'S A DREDG-SINGLE-ON-DESK CONSPIRACY!!!

Posted by: G3K at 06/24/05 12:23 PM | Reply
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No melody, no other reason for the song to exist. They can do a lot better.

Posted by: jed2 at 06/24/05 1:04 PM | Reply
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Been listening to the Lips for 15 years now and I would say they've been my favorite band for the majority of that time. I've been listening to Mr Ambulance Driver for a few days and I'll have to agree with Pitchfork. To quote a friend, a lot of the stuff since Yoshimi just seems forced. It seems that now all they care about now is the hype. The music just doesn't seem to matter anymore. Sigh...

Posted by: rOCKY at 06/24/05 1:23 PM | Reply
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It's not great...I agree...but it is a nice summer song. Makes me wanna go road-tripping! :)

Posted by: mandy* at 06/24/05 1:32 PM | Reply
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Definitely not the best FL song! I saw Embrace & Long-View last night in LA at the Troubadour! Long-View was amazing. Didn't know much about them other than the song on the radio. Really impressive sound & 4 part harmonies. Best band I've seen in a long time. Embrace was good, but sounded similar to so many other bands. They played their hit "Ashes" first! How did they get Chris Martin to write stuff for them?

Posted by: ointment at 06/24/05 1:35 PM | Reply
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Not to continue totally off topic, but I disagree about Dredg. I think they're pretty good, honestly. Sorry.

Posted by: Nate at 06/24/05 1:54 PM | Reply
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To continue the off topicness, Carrie Underwood looks really hot in the sexy vegeterian ad.

Posted by: Ken at 06/24/05 2:13 PM | Reply
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Totally, Ken

Which coincidentally is a great name for a band. No?

Posted by: jackhenry at 06/24/05 2:31 PM | Reply
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Totally Ken's new song on the soundtrack blows. They can do better.

Posted by: Ben at 06/24/05 2:54 PM | Reply
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When Carrie is tounging my balls her last name totally describes her location.

Posted by: Squirrel Master at 06/24/05 3:11 PM | Reply
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I like the song. While nothing memorable, it's not the end of the trip as Pitchfork puts it.

They've said their new album will sound different from the last two and this track shows it. And that, as Martha Stewart puts it, "is a good thing".

Posted by: ChrisG at 06/24/05 4:23 PM | Reply
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And of course by "they" I meant the band.

Posted by: ChrisG at 06/24/05 4:24 PM | Reply
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Wayne Coyne should have known better. You should always buy advertising space on Pitchfork before releasing a new single or album.

Posted by: Mister Fabersham at 06/24/05 4:30 PM | Reply
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in response to previous comments on the dredg add:
i don't think dredg is that bad. some of there songs on "el cielo" i really enjoy. but then again i have never seen them live...they could be god awful.

Posted by: rosie at 06/24/05 4:35 PM | Reply
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Meh, not so memorable. I liked their song on the latest Thievery Corporation album though.

Posted by: n at 06/24/05 6:01 PM | Reply
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Sounds good to me...

Posted by: jason at 06/24/05 6:17 PM | Reply
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Is it true carrie underwood has joined dredg?

Posted by: Jac at 06/24/05 7:13 PM | Reply
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Drozd needs to get back behind the drumkit.
and soon...............

Posted by: jeff at 06/24/05 8:02 PM | Reply
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Dredg's earlier albums are better, but this new one is still decent. Glad they're getting promotion this time around...

Posted by: bleep at 06/24/05 9:29 PM | Reply
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drozd was on dinner for five last night. totally random but definitely cool to hear some of his stories.

Posted by: steve at 06/25/05 10:20 AM | Reply
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where did the mp3 go, i didnt get to hear it :(

Posted by: J.child at 06/25/05 3:35 PM | Reply
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stereogum sucks now! pink is the new blog is a million times better!

Posted by: jolly_rancher at 06/26/05 4:32 PM | Reply
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Give them a break, Totally Ken did not want to be on the Herbie soundtrack anyway.

Posted by: Ken at 06/27/05 2:00 PM | Reply
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I can't remember ever agreeing with pitchfork on anything. They are so elitist and they fill their reviews up to the brim with cultural esoteric so that normal everyday people don't have a fucking clue what they are talking about, so you just have to assume that they know what their talking about.

This mp3 was good, no it wasn't the flaming lips best ever, but shit, it made me sad. Good music makes you feel the emotions put into, and the Flaming Lip's whimsicality has rarely not gotten to me. I think Seven Nation Army (Cover) was one of the few.

PItchfork needs to get off their high horse. They aren't the gods of music.

Posted by: Charlotte at 06/27/05 11:03 PM | Reply
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agree with them or not, all they do is give opinions on music just like a lot of other sites and magazines. so, because they do this they must think they are the 'gods of music'?

Posted by: jason at 06/28/05 8:48 AM | Reply
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has anyone heard any of the new Bill Ricchini tracks?

Posted by: Ben at 06/28/05 10:21 AM | Reply
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I don't like the song, it's average I'd say... nothing exceptional. Boring((

Posted by: Ambulance Nurse at 07/06/05 10:09 AM | Reply
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It's definitely different from all their previous stuff, but with the Lips, almost every successive album is different. it's a nice song. I like it. Makes me want the album to come out even more.

Posted by: Chris at 07/09/05 3:44 AM | Reply
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can anyone please recongnize great music anymore. all of you are such poped out assholes. the flaming lips are fucking great and so is the single and the album.

Posted by: Archetyp3 at 08/11/05 5:13 PM | Reply
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I have to admit, the first time I layed my ears on 'Mr. Ambulance Driver' I was a little let down. But, luckily, I didn't let my first opinion destroy me. The more I listened to it the more I started to appreciate it's splendor. Plus, it probably doesn't represent the entire new Album. Like when 'Do You Realize???' became really popular. 'Do You Realize' doesn't reflect the album at all and was a mainstream pop-hit. Not saying that 'Do You Realize' is a bad song, it was good enough to be adored by mainstream. But then again I'm not saying that mainstream is that musically knowlageable all the time. All in all that's what I feel for 'Mr. Ambulane Driver'. The trip has not yet even begun, Mr. Pitchfork.

Posted by: Robert at 08/24/05 1:53 AM | Reply
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I agree with Charolette. Yes pitchfork is entitled to give their slanted and often absurd opinions on music, and ofcorse this doesn't mean they claim to be the gods of music. However, it's a pretty bold statement to say "the trip is over" based on hearing one song off the new album, I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion really, especially considering the lips have consistently been putting out good albums since...well since they started. "Mr. Ambulance Driver" does sound alot different, I like it, it makes me even more curious about the new album. Pitchfork, put a fucking cork in it already...jeez you guys suck.

Posted by: Lewis at 09/25/05 4:44 AM | Reply
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Why have you removed the link? No doubt they can do better but it's not so horrible))
I wouldn't buy it but I would listen to it again on the Internet.

Posted by: Ambulance Patient at 09/27/05 3:44 PM | Reply
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I'm not a flaming lips fan to be honest - i've always felt they were way too into themselves, but i actually liked this one - lyrics border on trite, but the delivery is ok. I like the video, I'm guessing the talking part for the kid with the mangled hand is not part of the cd version, but i think it actually adds to the presentation on the video... i was halfway falling asleep when i first heard this song and i think it made me like it more than i would've had i been alert and coherent

Posted by: ram at 11/11/05 11:41 PM | Reply
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