I was somewhat looking forward to panning this disc, expecting the worst as it came hot on the heels of the awful, novelty-loaded Fight Test EP. But while Ego Tripping doesn't correct all of Fight Test's misgivings (would somebody please convince these guys to include the damn Yoshimi outtakes already?), it does contain four inspired new originals. One of these, "Assassination of the Sun", opens the album with the Lips sounding the loosest they have since The Soft Bulletin. As Wayne Coyne's earnest tenor sings of millions of stars forming into a sun and machines that churn out pain, a breezy rolling drum break drives the song forward alongside floating piano chords and wiry bucolic guitar lines.
The track proves not to be a fluke: the two originals that follow it, the interestingly titled instrumental "I'm a Fly in a Sunbeam (Following the Funeral Procession of a Stranger)" and the interstellar sex romp "Sunship Balloons" equally make good on the meticulously layered, languid atmospherics and anime-inspired, metaphysical pop promise of their last two full-lengths. "I'm a Fly in a Sunbeam" sets a serene horn solo against a pulsating backbeat, mellow piano chords and organ drone, drenched in a bath of aquatic reverb. "Sunship Balloons" is even better: over an insistently bouncy chopped-up drum break and sparkling electric guitars, Coyne gives up the first Flaming Lips R&B; slow jam, spitting come-ons like, "Let's do it once/ Let's do it twice/ Let's do it alllll niiiiight until the sunrise comes too soon."
Following the strength of the leading triplet of originals, the middle section of the EP all-too-predictably consists of filler. The remix of "Do You Realize?" is the most disappointing, given that it's produced by Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Postal Service fame. He takes the original vocal melody of the song and centers it atop a jerky IDM synth beat while laying a straightforwardly boring drum-n-bass break over the chorus. The first remix for "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell", produced by Jason Bentley, would be right at home on Fight Test, stripping the introspective planetary pop of the original and recasting the track as a 1994 chillout track. The second "Ego Tripping" remix, by Blow-Up Aka Paolo Cilione and Claudio Camaione, fares only slightly better (though it would've had to have been a total catastrophe to not) with its pounding bass drum pulse, laconic rimshot clicks, and wandering tinny electronic pings and pangs giving way to irrepressibly motivating electro-rhythms.
The EP closes with Wayne Coyne's frank plea for world peace via protest-song-cum-Christmas-ditty, "A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)". And it's not as bad as you might expect-- if anyone can pull sentimental rubbish like this off in 2003 without sounding like a total jackass it's Coyne, who quixotically asserts: "If I could stop time it would be for a moment just around Christmas, when mankind reveals its truest potential." Okay, it's a bit Miss America Pageant, but Coyne's hopeful daydreams are clearly sincere, and dipped in fantastical accompaniment by his fellow bandmates; sparkling triangle and xylophone notes drizzle down from above the optimistic ring of hefty piano chords, all held together by a mischievous drumbreak.
Granted, the new material on Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell doesn't exactly show the band's sound evolving, but then, they've pretty much perfected it: "Assassination of the Sun" and "I'm a Fly in the Sunbeam" in particular would have added another substantial round to Yoshimi's dreampop arsenal, and the others, despite their slightly oddball lyrics, show the band in top form musically. Put simply: Any fan would be thrilled if their next record sounded like this. Still, I'm not sure why the Lips feel obligated to toss in substandard remixes (it's certainly not going to get them club play). Had they cut those from the disc-- or seen fit to include the Yoshimi originals available only on the newly released $20+ Deluxe Edition & DVD version of the album-- it would have made a much more fluid listen. But with the record degenerating into anonymous techno halfway through, it feels less like a unified piece than an overpriced just-in-time-for-the-holidays moneymaker.
