Review: Electric Wurms- Musik Die Schwer Zu Twerk

It took me a little while to form my opinion on this record. Electric Wurms is a side project of Steven Drozd and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, in which they enlist Linear Downfall as co-conspirators. The problem I was having is inevitably what a lot of other people will have: the comparisons to the Flaming Lips.

So, let's set something straight. The Flaming Lips are pretty awesome. Their sonic experiments and novel and innovative releases are all but legend at this point. I just was kind of expecting something different from this album, or EP if you will. The lack of the Flaming Lips name made me think there was going to be a radical sound change here; one that they thought would not have worked within the Flaming Lips wheelhouse. Collaborations are nothing new to the band (Heady Fwends and multiple cover albums), so why the name change? There's a slightly subtler sound to it, and Wayne takes more of a back seat, but one can definitely hear the Flaming Lips sound on this release.

The fuzzed out guitars and synths are here in full force, but the album is a little tame for the most part, but maybe that was the intent. My favorite track on this was definitely 'Transform!!!', where a pretty funky and insistent groove is laid down, and insanity is slathered on top. All in all, this is a solid release, but I never really got a sense of identity with this project. To make a comparison, Spanish Gold is a side project of members of a number of bands; elements of each band's sound can be found within the new group's record, but I feel the group established their own identity and sound within South of Nowhere. I don't really feel that here, and I would have liked to hear more divergence from the Flaming Lips if they were making an effort to distance this project from the band, as the diverging moments are among the release's strongest moments.

Out of a total of five stars, I give this:

What did you think of the EP? Tell me your thoughts. As for me, I'm off to absorb my first exposure to FKA Twigs.

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