Ego Tripping

Yoshimi just won't die, and with it, the once underexposed Flaming Lips have become dangerously overexposed in the past 16 months since the release of their epic album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The propaganda started with reissues of their back catalog. Next came the import singles, followed by the mediocre Fight Test EP. We now ultimately see not only a DVD/CD enlarged reissue of Yoshimi, but also another EP, this time dedicated to the album track "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell." 

The Fight Test EP served it's purpose. It gave Yoshimi fans something more to hold onto. Comprised of half-realized covers, a remix, and a White Stripes joke, Fight Test was disposable; the EP was basically there to celebrate the unlikely success of the studio album and supposedly close the doors on the Yoshimi era. The momentum has slowed down quite a bit this time around; Ego Tripping came out under the radar, which, considering its content, is a shame. Ego Tripping provides four brand new songs and three surprisingly meritorious remixes.

Rock fans seem hung up on finding the 'new' Pink Floyd. Although very substantial in the 70s, that band's myth has built up a semblance that their records can't possibly live up to. There is no "new" Pink Floyd; Radiohead arguments aside, The Flaming Lips are likely the band that most closely follows in the spirit of Pink Floyd's vital Dark Side of the Moon. Okay, okay, on with it ... let's just say that on "Assassination of the Sun," the Lips sound like they've moved to a certain side of the moon. While really an oddball love song, "Assassination" sounds like a dreamy space-rock song doused in layer after layer of synth programming, pianos, and Nick Mason-jacked drums.

Next comes "I'm a Fly in a Sunbeam," an instrumental composition which does just what the accessory songs on Yoshimi did by offering up a small, atmosphere break between exhaustingly ornate tracks. Next sweeps in "Sunship Balloons," another love song masked as space rock. While "Assassination of the Sun," is one of the bands best songs to date, the similar "Sunship" remarkably manages to be up to par. Now, for the (not so) "dark side" of the EP...

Traditionally, bands labeled "experimental" like to have remixes by electronic artists. Where Fight Test had one very unneeded remix, Ego Tripping has three. The difference here is that the two remixes of the title track and stellar version of "Do You Realize" are actually pleasing. Each song offers up a new idea on the already amazing originals and in turn pay homage to the mastery seen throughout Yoshimi.

After a forward-looking take on Christmas with "A Chance at Christmas," Ego Tripping is concluded. Bearing in mind the strength of "Sunship" and specifically "Assassination," Ego Tripping is a must-have for fans of progressive rock.    6.5/10

Written by G. William Locke