Nobody would make the mistake of calling 2003's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots a "focused" record. But by restraining himself thematically to matters of personal integrity even while singing about evil space robots Coyne gave that album a somewhat linear sense of storytelling. Mystics is more ambitious and more pointed in its purpose. Most of its twelve tracks are directed not at the listener but at the listener's perceived enemies: warmongers, politicians, nonbelievers, Gwen Stefani fans. They're the mystics referred to in the title, and standout tracks like "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" (an either-you-love-it-or-you-hate-it musical funhouse of looney-tunes funk) and its equally tweaky successor, "Free Radicals," taunt them directly. In between is breezy, sleepy '70s FM schmaltz-pop like "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" and "Vein of Stars," soothing, paranoid, and distant. These are the songs purists will point to when decrying the supposed watering-down and growing-up of the Lips' adolescent urges. And they're right musically, "Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung" and tender album-closer "Goin' On" lean closer toward the pastoral psychedelica of early Pink Floyd than the Butthole Surfers' psychotic crunch. But consider this: Coyne just turned 45. Multi-instrumentalist Steve Drozd quit heroin and got married. This is not the Flaming Lips of twenty years ago. For some, that's a sad loss but for others, it's a change to cherish.