For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.

Day 20: Oklahoma City, OK

Here’s a band that you have to respect even if you don’t like them. It’s bands like The Flaming Lips that continue to defy both traditions and trends to create original-sounding, experimental music. The Soft Bulletin has earned the moniker, “The Pet Sounds of the 90s”. Of course, any time your music is compared to such a revolutionary album has got to be a good thing. What’s ironic about that statement is that the band actually went more traditional on the album compared to its previous, more experimental records.

Still, they were doing things no one else was doing as evidenced on the opening track, “Race For The Prize”. The song starts and ends like a 70’s tv show theme. Looking back now, the track’s retro vibe seems like a foreshadowing of bands to follow like The Go! Team. As an ode to the band’s hometown, The Flaming Lips wrote a version that became the fight song for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team.

“Upwards to the vanguard Where the pressure is too high. Under the microscope, Hope against hope.”