The bombastic and lovely follow up to creative breakthrough The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is another great leap forward in both songwriting and engineering for The Lips. Combining 60s folk, 70s prog, and the techno bleeps and blorps from the nearest future, it is the band at its most accessible and warm as the battle between human emotions and robotic isolation ends with no clear winners in sight. From the bittersweet Cat Stevens-cribbing “Fight Test” to the title track’s double-feature epic sing-along and instrumental freakout respectively, the bouncing “Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell” and the hauntingly beautiful “Do You Realize???,” it is a sad and lovely experience.