Starlight Mints - The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of (2000)

Even had they never set foot in the Sooner State, the Starlight Mints would still face an endless stream of comparisons to fellow Oklahoma freaks of nature the Flaming Lips; when it comes to hallucinatory pop complete with sweeping string arrangements, poignantly strangled vocals, and lyrical references to giant centipede attacks, the comparisons pretty much come with the territory. Much to the credit of The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of, however, it took the Lips three or four records to get this good; embracing everything from rapturously Bowie-esque melodrama to odd Middle Eastern textures to pure noise cacophony, the Starlight Mints' debut maintains the element of surprise from track to track, as each song's journey from point A to point B proves as interesting for its ultimate destination as for the sonic detours it takes along the way.