Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell

12/09/2003 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

All hail the Flaming Lips, a band that seems to be doing the impossible. While most bands shoot their wad early in their career with their best work on their first, second or third albums, the Flaming Lips are that rare act that is getting better and more interesting with age. This EP, issued 20 years after the Lips formed, takes off where 2002's magnificent Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots left off. In fact, a deluxe version of said album in DVD Audio and 5.1 surround sound was released simultaneously with this EP. The twin release dates are appropriate considering this EP features yet another remix of what is perhaps the most pleasant song about death ever written, Yoshimi's "Do You Realize??," which was already remixed on the Lips' other 2003 EP, Fight Test. Also receiving the remix treatment not once but twice is Yoshimi's "Ego Tripping." While the remixes can grow a bit tiresome, especially the two takes on "Ego Tripping" back-to-back, this EP is worth picking up for the new tracks--the majestic "Assassination Of The Sun," the tripped-out Beach Boys-like instrumental "I'm A Fly In A Sunbeam (Following The Funeral Procession Of A Stranger)," and irresistible "Sunship Balloons," which achieves lift off via a fluid bass line and Wayne Coyne's earnest but slightly off-key vocals. The seasonal original that closes the EP, "A Change At Christmas," featuring Coyne crooning and reflecting on the ideal holiday season in which "there is sympathy for the suffering" and "the world embraces peace and love and mercy instead of power," might not top John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," but it's an admirable attempt. In short, Ego Tripping might not be the full-album gift fans are jonesing for, but at the very least it's a stocking stuffer that'll help hold you over until Santa Coyne and company can construct their next full opus.