The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips came from Oklahoma City, emerging in 1983 with their strange sound almost fully formed. Since then, the Flaming Lips have come under the almost singular leadership of singer Wayne Coyne and done magical things with alternative rock. In the early 1990s they made a commercial splash with "She Don't Use Jelly," showing the world their madcap pretzelling of pop music - a tumultuous tangle of guitars, bristling melodies, and oddball lyrics. Since then, The Soft Bulletin attempted a 90s version of Pet Sounds and largely succeeded, becoming one of the most acclaimed albums of the decade in its last few months. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) was widely praised too, and eventually became a gold-seller: their biggest commercial success, two decades and 10 albums after they started. The Lips are also famous for their live performances, which often feature giant plastic balls, furry animal suits, hand puppets, videos, light-shows and truckloads of confetti.