Never trust anything the Flaming Lips do, especially around April Fool’s Day. After unveiling a “companion album” to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon called Flaming Side of the Moon on March 29, it turns out the Oklahoma psych-rockers were just playing a merry prank with help from Funny or Die.
Today, they revealed the hoax in a series of videos — showing a number of reports, including SPIN’s, on the release. Why did we fall for it? Well, the announcement came straight from Warner Bros. Records, the music sounds pretty close to Floyd’s, the running time is almost exactly the same for both albums, the Lips have covered Dark Side in its entirety before, and it all seemed exactly like something they would do, just for kicks. What we didn’t realize is that they were just playing on how desensitized we’ve become to their penchant for outlandish stunts and bizarre projects. (Also, it was March. It’s like Christmas music in October. Are no holidays sacred?)
In addition to announcing the prank, the Lips filmed some other scripted shorts, including one where they make a Michael Bay-style trailer for their landmark albumYoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (in reality, they’ve been working on Broadway musical version), and have Fred Armisen audition to be Wayne Coyne’s replacement. They also shared footage from the session that brought about the fake-but-kinda-real Dark Side music.
If that wasn’t enough, they posted photos of Flames and Lips cereal, and a New York magazine cover featuring Coyne spoofing Alec Baldwin’s recent “I Give Up” article. In Coyne’s version, “I’m All In,” he announces his plans to sell out, leading to the aformentioned videos. His sign-off is a gem: “So goodbye privacy, artistic integrity, and respect from my peers. Hello money, in-ground pools, and tanned, taut, fake-ass titties on ice. Coyne out.” Enjoy it all while we wipe this limited-edition, hand-numbered, chocolate-skull-encrusted egg off our faces. Thanks, Lips.
