from Decoy
Tracklist:
1. Fight Test 2. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (KEXP Version)
3. The Golden Age (CD101 Version)
4. Knives Out (KCRW Version)
5. Do You Realize?? (Scott Hardkiss Floating in Space Version)
6. The Strange Decision of Conscience
7. Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)The track list on the latest EP from the Flaming Lips consists of their current single ‘Fight Test’, a cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, a cover of Beck’s ‘The Golden Age’, a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Knives Out’, a dance remix of Do You Realize??, and two original unreleased songs. When I first saw this track list, I was anxious to see what the EP was going to be like. Although I had already heard all three covers, the quality of the recordings I had heard was poor.
The title track ‘Fight Test’ has been my favorite song off of Yoshimi. since my first listen. The story behind ‘Fight Test’ is that of man’s regrets about not fighting when the right thing to do was to fight. The musical area of this song is beautiful. The guitar, synth, and vocals match up wonderfully and create a sound that only The Flaming Lips can produce. The Lips really do a number on ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, at first listen you might not even recognize what song it is they’re covering. They take this song and make it their own. However, the cover of ‘The Golden Age’ is almost identical to that of the original. The only thing different is Wayne’s vocals. This is expected because at the time of this recording The Lips were the back-up band for Beck. It is still disappointing. For the cover of ‘Knives Out’ they take the original song and turn it into a psychedelic piano ballad. It is better than what they did with ‘The Golden Age’; more is expected from the band which is responsible for Zaireeka. The remix of ‘Do You Realize??’ is long, drawn out, and boring. I am not a big fan of dance re-mixes especially when the song is like ‘Do You Realize??.’ They should have left this song out and put in a live version of the song.
The two new songs are what I looked forward to most about this EP and they did not disappoint. The first song ‘The Strange Decision of Conscience’ is a synth and drum driven song that is in the style of the songs on Yoshimi…. The second of the two songs ‘Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)’ has a country/folk feel to it. It is like nothing I’ve ever heard from The Lips. And yes, the song is about Jack and Meg White from The White Stripes.
"3/5" – A nice collection of covers and unreleased material. A good addition to any Lips fan’s collection.
-JD