Since 1999's {^The Soft Bulletin}, {$the Flaming Lips} have issued an album once every three or four years -- roughly once per presidential term, making {^At War with the Mystics} the second album they've made during {%George W. Bush}'s presidency. While {^Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots}' themes of seizing the moment and accepting mortality could easily be read as a reaction to 9/11, {^At War with the Mystics} is a more overtly timely album for the mid-to-late 2000s, dealing with the motivation behind the war in Iraq and {%Bush}'s presidency. By grappling with heavy subjects like these, it could seem like {$the Flaming Lips} are taking their role as one of America's most prominent and beloved {\alternative rock} bands too seriously, but {^Mystics}' light touch shows that they can still be important without being self-important. In fact, the album's most pointed tracks are the most playful. As they did on {^Yoshimi}'s {&"Fight Test,"} {$the Lips} couch their aggression in bouncy melodies and playful production tricks. With its robotic {\doo wop} vocals and strummy acoustic guitars, {&"Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"} -- which asks its listeners if they could do any better if they were handed all the power in the world -- sounds oddly like a {$Paul Simon} song updated for the 21st (or maybe even 22nd) century. {&"Free Radicals,"} which sounds like {$Prince} via {$Beck} with a dash of {$Daft Punk}, and {&"Haven't Got a Clue,"} which boasts the refrain "Every time you state your case, the more I want to punch your face," get their points across emphatically -- almost too emphatically, actually, for as catchy as these songs are, they don't really expand on their thoughts or sounds much. However, the middle section of {^At War with the Mystics} is expansive and intimate at the same time, like many of {$the Flaming Lips}' best moments have been. {&"My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion"} and {&"Vein of Stars"} play like updates of {^The Soft Bulletin}'s effortless, weightless beauty, and {&"The Sound of Failure"} is a reminder that it's OK to be sad sometimes (while getting in digs at the {\teen pop} platitudes of {$Britney Spears} and {$Gwen Stefani}) set to a gorgeous backdrop of {\soft rock} flutes and guitars and twittering electronics. This stretch of songs plays almost like a suite, which ties right in with {^At War with the Mystics}' {\prog rock} leanings. {$Pink Floyd} is a major influence on the entire album: {&"The Wizard Turns On..."} is a spacey, late-night instrumental that could easily be synched to {#The Wizard of Oz}, while {&"Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung"} also taps into {$Floyd}'s elaborate, epic power. These trippy moments make {^At War with the Mystics} the most {\psychedelic} and least immediate album {$the Flaming Lips} have done in a long, long time, and the way that {^Mystics} bounces back and forth between its ethereal and zany moments gives it a disjointed, uneven feel that makes the album a shade less satisfying than either {^Yoshimi} or {^Soft Bulletin}. Still, as standout tracks like {&"Mr. Ambulance Driver"} and {&"Goin' On"} show, the band is still fighting the good fight and confronting the bad things in life with hope, optimism, and just the right amount of (magical) realism. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide