I’ve never really been one to go out of my way and purchase EPs. Actually, I think that I actually only owned one extended play record up until last week, and that was Tool’s debut Opiate. It was actually an impressive record, but I haven’t ever seen the need to shell out any where from $10 to $20 for less than a half hour of mostly obscure or remixed material - the exception being, again, Opiate, which was technically a record but was still listed as an EP. EPs are usually spotty, inconsistent, and reek of a grab for cash filled with material that only the most diehard of fans could possibly ever want.

That all changed this week, though. You see, for the past year, all I ever heard about music were two things. The first was how much Wilco rocked, but that’s really not important here. The second thing I was consistently hearing was near blind praise of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the 2002 release from avant-garde psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips. In fact, prior to last year, had you said the name Flaming Lips to me, it wouldn’t have registered anywhere in my brain. But peer pressure has a funny way of working, and after nearly six months of hearing nothing but positive reviews for Yoshimi… I went out and bought it. Without even hearing a note of the music within, I purchased the record for over $25; with the only thought in the back of my mind being this better live up to the praise. Luckily, or not so luckily so it may seem, it was even better than I had expected. The gorgeous arrangements, beautiful, full, synthesized arrangements and Wayne Coyne’s soothing vocals combined to create what was easily the best record of 2002.

I said not so luckily because since discovering Yoshimi, I’ve shelled out a good $100 picking up older Lips material to fill the void left after spinning Yoshimi 83 times in a row was no longer fulfilling. My first investment, The Soft Bulletin, while not quite up to par with Yoshimi, was still an excellent album filled with deep psychedelic grooves and intricate musical imagery. After that came Zaireeka, the four CD set that put me out almost $60 but was still well worth it. The set, meant to be played simultaneously on four stereos opened my eyes to all sorts of musical possibilities, not to mention the sheer eccentric genius that is Wayne Coyne and his band. Transmissions From The Satellite Heart was the latest, although the verdict is still out on whether this is another sonic delicacy or something too bizarre to fully grasp. All of this rabid purchasing has proven only that The Flaming Lips may very well be the best major label rock band currently releasing records today (with, I think, some competition coming from Tool and Queens Of The Stone Age).

This week, though, I heard about the latest Lips release. Their latest single from the Yoshimi LP was to be repackaged along with six other live performances, covers and B-Sides to make a new Lips EP titled (you guessed it) Fight Test after the single it is intended to advertise. The single most obvious thing you’ll notice about Fight Test is how musically diverse it is. The band, like on their other B-Side collections, has stretched out their musical muscle to create a vast array of sonic approaches that cover the entire spectrum of music. And at $9.99 Canadian, the Fight Test EP is a real steal considering it contains thirty-three minutes and forty four seconds of music, which pushes the EP over the top and into the range of some full-length releases. If memory serves, Fight Test is longer than at least two full-length Weezer records, and is only about a minute shorter than Linkin Park’s (ugh) latest offering - especially impressive considering the much higher level of quality found here.

The record packaging itself remains consistent with the Yoshimi theme, featuring the Japanese girl caught in the middle of a battle with the pink robots that she was challenging on the full-length record. Inside the jewel case is a slip of paper advertising Lips merchandise, complete with the slogan “Got Lips” below a group of the same pink robots. You can’t help but admire the keen eye for marketing that Wayne Coyne was born with. Of course, his keen eye for song writing and musical arrangements is even more admirable.

At times, Fight Test sounds just like Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots with their sweeping, sycophantic drum work and heavily synthesized guitar playing. But considering that Fight Test comes only a couple of months on the heels of it’s mother, there’s also a surprising array of covers and new tracks that display a talent for the theatrical, oddly unique arrangements, and even more, a brilliantly twisted and almost disturbed sense of humour that you can’t help but love. Coyne’s lyrics run the gamut from deeply melancholic to powerfully uplifting, and even just sardonically humorous. He’s playful, he’s witty, but more importantly, he’s brilliant. The powerfully innovative pop hooks combined with wildly unconventional song structure of Yoshimi make their return here, albeit in different forms. The drumming remains, for the most part, largely filtered and digitized, and the guitars are at times virtually unrecognizable in a maze of swirling synthesizers and all sorts of pedals. It would be quite interesting to see how many pedals and processors it takes Coyne and company to recreate the sound of Yoshimi in a live setting. But, I digress. The unconventional, sonically bizarre sound of Yoshimi really shouldn’t have succeeded. But through brilliant song writing and a flair for the esoteric, the trio of Lips were able to create a modern musical masterpiece that defined structure and conventions in favour of creating a set of solid songs that were so intricate and sonically interesting that you couldn’t help but take notice of them.

The Fight Test EP takes those same musical ideas and some of the same lyrically themes about loss, acceptance and standing up for what’s right to create an impressive companion for Yoshimi that stands up nearly as well as it’s older sister does. In addition to the single Fight Test, the EP consists of two previously unreleased original numbers, a remix, and three covers that display Wayne Coyne’s eclectic tastes in music that covers the scope of music from dance pop to experimental, synthesizer dominated rock not unlike their own).

The EP begins with the single Fight Test, also the opening track from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Some quiet applause is followed by a loud, monotone voice that announces the beginning of the song continuing to echo repeatedly for the next several seconds. The track settles down into an identical version of the song from the album that everyone should own, a song about acceptance, loss, but also about standing up when it’s time to stand up and believe in something. The guitars are virtually unrecognizable, drenched in all sorts of whirring, buzzing, and droning synth effects. Coyne’s vocals are soothing, and the intricate passages are amazing to listen to.

I thought I was smart
I thought I was right
I thought it better not to fight
I thought there was a virtue, in always being cool
So it came time to fight
I thought "I'll just step aside"
And that the time will prove you wrong
And that you would be a fool

A cover of the Kylie Minogue dance track Can’t Get You Out Of My Head follows, recorded live at a Seattle radio station last year. The track is virtually unrecognizable as a cover, with only the lyrics keeping it from being an entire song. But the track works because Coyne is actually a fan of the original and does his best to create a tribute that is both unique and sonically interesting. It works at much more than just a satirical level, because, despite the playful nature of the Lips, it isn’t satire. The entire song has been slowed down and the electro-dance pop accompaniment has been replaced by a slow, dark, and lush, spacious arrangement at about half the speed of the original. Coyne’s vocals are slow and deliberate, almost eerily raspy and dark, transforming a love song into a dark, longing ballad that reminds me vaguely of the stalker theme in The Police’s Every Breath You Take.

The Golden Age is another live radio station cover of slow, contemplative Beck tune from his latest album Sea Change. Unlike the Minogue cover, this one is pretty much consistent with the original, even down to the slowly strummed acoustic guitars, the contemplative vocals and the occasional piano fill. Their rendition of Radiohead’s Knives Out is also pretty much consistent with the original, beginning with the slow, driving keyboard piece that moves into the strained, warbled and difficult to understand vocals that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke is know for.

Do You Realize?? (Scott Hardkiss Floating In Space Mix) is a remix of possibly the best song from Yoshimi. I’ve never really been a fan of remixes, and the original is still better than the mix here, but I must admit that I actually like the version on Fight Test. The lush, dense keyboards have for the most part been replaced by an even denser layer of thick, heavy beats. The bass pulses, and the song remains interesting, but I don’t like the way the beautiful original arrangement has been pushed so far back that it’s nearly unnoticeable. The track is interesting, and for the mot part stands up well, but at just over nine minutes, it eventually gets slightly tedious and unnecessarily long. Regardless, I still like the mix because of the driving bass and swirling keyboards that add something new to the track.

The next two tracks are both previously unreleased originals. The first, The Strange Design Of Conscience is dominated by a simple beat and a stuttered synthesizer riff. The guitars are present, but pushed to the back of the mix, only adding the occasional bit of flourish and texture. Lyrically, the song covers the same thematic territory of Yoshimi, diving into the same exploration of loss and acceptance over a brilliant musical arrangement. Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me) is the most obvious display of Wayne Coyne’s perverse sense of humour. With raspy vocals over a very bluesy country and western beat, and with a tremendous realization of the absurdity of it all, he tells the story of his encounter with Jack White of The White Stripes on the Lips tour with Beck. This is one of the single biggest departures for the band, with any form of synth experimentation gone in favour of traditional instrumentation that accompany the lyrics (“Thank you Jack White for the fiber-optic Jesus that you gave me/It shined so bright that I couldn’t help believing it would save me”).

In addition to the seven tracks it is home to, the Fight Test EP is also an enhanced CD featuring the music video for the single Fight Test, which is rather entertaining, and the trailer for Wayne Coyne’s theatrical debut, Christmas On Mars - a very campy sci-fi film starring and directed by the band set to be released on DVD and be part of a nationwide tour. The trailer is one of the single most insanely peculiar things that I’ve ever seen, but I’ve got to admit that it’s very entertaining to watch the Blue's Clues guy go insane and start swearing at everything.

For the low price at which you can find it, Fight Test is an EP that is well worth your time. There’s over a half hour of interesting compositions here, not to mention more stuff to be found on the enhanced portion of the CD when you put it into your computer. More than anything else, though, Fight Test only serves to reiterate the musical brilliance of Wayne Coyne and his Flaming Lips.

Related Reviews:
The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Beck - Sea Change

Recommended: Yes