The Flaming Lips - "Pennyroyal Tea"

Before The Flaming Lips were our ambassadors for deep space music, they were just another one of those 90's hipster bands trying to fight their way through the masses and into your record collection. The difference between the Lips though and a band like say, Tripping Daisey, is that they were actually making amazing noise pop. Although most would place their best work in the keyboard laden, dream pop phase of their career, starting with their 1999 masterpiece, The Soft Bulletin, my heart still belongs to their early to mid 90s's work, where their sweet catchy melodies met with ear crushing distortion and feedback at every turn (not to mention the wily guitar gymnastics that Ronald Jones exuded). Here's a clip I just found of them covering Nirvana's "Pennyroyal Tea". Wayne Coyne's vocal is a little rough on the chorus, but regardless, this performance showcases the raw edge that the Lips once had in live performance, that is now swapped for bombast and showmanship (don't get me wrong, their current live show is great, but it's more about visual extravagance rather than musical performance).

Flaming Lips: Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana) from Chris Buly on Vimeo.

Disregard the credit that says 1998, as this performance is clearly pre-Zaireeka.