Emma CourtlandSilver trembling fetus ornaments and posters screen-printed with human blood–the colorful antics of The Flaming Lips' promotions are well documented. In January, Lips singer Wayne Coyne announced the band was planning to release small batches of songs in unorthodox ways over the course of the year, and last week Coyne delivered–10 life-size gummy skulls to Guestroom Records in Oklahoma City, each with a USB drive containing four new songs embedded in its gummy brain.
That is, 10 of 500 USB drives inside edible gummy brains, inside life-sized human skulls, also made out of the gummy candy. Coyne had been posting teaser photos on his Twitter for close to a month, documenting the trails and prototypes. (Skull-gina anyone?)
“We weren't even sure a USB could survive what we wanted to do to it, so we had to test it,” Coyne explained to a packed room last Wednesday. “The drive has to be thrown in while the gumminess is above two hundred degrees. Of course, we had to eat our way in.”
Despite a $150 price tag, the skulls sold out instantly, and there's no word yet on when or if any of the remaining 470 will turn up in L.A. (Coyne has since made two more drop offs, in Austin and Dallas.) They've also begun to make appearances on eBay, popping up to the tune of $300, which seems humorously steep, considering that they're perishable and all of the songs are available on the internet.
Still, if both options sound too pedestrian for your palate, Coyne tells Billboard that the band has ideas about releasing all the music on a giant hard drive in the heart of a life-size gummy statue of himself.
All things considered, we just want to know how they taste.
Credit: Flaming Lips
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