By Claude Iosso
After a heavy dose of heavy indie, delivered at full volume over the weekend, the first Psychic Salamander Festival looks like a keeper. Healthy crowds converged on Remlinger Farms in Carnation, Washington to see a parade of electric guitar mavens, headlined both nights by the Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse.
The Lips and Modest Mouse saved the best for last, each performing key albums in their respective catalogs in their entirety Sunday night. “Soft Bulletin,” a startling departure from guitar crunch for the Flaming Lips in 1999, remains probably their most complete album. Modest Mouse is also recognized for broadening their sound and themes with their third release in 2000, “The Moon & Antarctica.”
Both bands did justice to these great records. While the Flaming Lips had the bigger wow factor with confetti, a light show and a superwoman outfit at one point for frontman Wayne Coyne, Modest Mouse delivered a more riveting performance.
Before I dig into the album sets, I want to mention several of the other top artists who came to Carnation at the behest of Mouse leader Isaac Brock, including Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, Yo La Tengo and Courtney Barnett.
Barnett, the saucy Aussie, took no prisoners, roaming the stage with an impish grin, clever lyrics and scorching guitar riffs. This was my first time seeing Sleater-Kinney, and lead guitarist-singer Carrie Brownstein was spellbinding, angular and angry, wielding her axe with a controlled savagery.
Modest Mouse was supposed to be the final act Saturday and Sunday, but Brock ceded the true headliner spot to the Flaming Lips, presumably because their outrageous light show was certain to work best after dark.
The psych rockers from Oklahoma played hits from a number of albums Saturday, but “Soft Bulletin” tracks were abundant. While the songs are great, the band’s set lists had a lot of repeats over both days.
For all of the grandeur of a Lips performance – including gigantic pink robots and shimmying aliens in gold lame vests – I found it kind of exhausting at times. With the flashing lights, lasers, giant bouncing balloons, and thunderous bass and synths, the audience is taking in a lot.
And Coyne, an irrepressible cosmic philosopher in a tight suit, constantly demanded that the crowd keep cheering between songs. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” he kept exhorting, pointing his microphone expectantly at sections of the crowd. “You gotta keep screaming.”
Do you realize … how annoying you’re being, Wayne?
In contrast, Brock was the happy elder statesman, giving the crowd a big smile occasionally and asking, “How y’all doing?” In his sober middle age, Isaac gives off lots of good-time vibes, a distinct departure from his edgier, young persona.
Modest Mouse’s sets were almost completely different each night. They played a mix of their hits (some of the underground variety) from over the years Saturday, Brock nearly exploding as he fired off his crazy white man raps and bellowed the choruses. The intriguing guitarist who put MM on the map with his bending notes still reveled on the fretboard, instigating a mosh pit Sunday night.
As expected, “3rd Planet” and “Gravity Rides Everything” were pleasures. The funky “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” was infectious live, and the longer compositions – “The Stars are Projectors” and “Life Like Weeds” really drew out the band’s creativity, with a violinist helping.
After finishing the record’s last song, MM entertained for another 20 minutes with vigorous renditions of “Ocean Breathes Salty,” “We Marched into the Sea” and other tracks from the band’s middle period. Surprisingly, not a single song from the last studio album, 2021’s “The Golden Casket.”
