Pitchfork

Grammy-toting bunny suit aficionados The Flaming Lips have announced a U.S. release date of April 22nd for a seven-cut Fight Test EP which will include three covers, a remix, two previously unreleased songs, and the video for the title track. You may recall back in November 2002 there was some noise about releasing the band's promo-only EP Yoshimi Wins commercially, but the lackluster Christmas season put the kibosh on that. "Fight Test" includes three tracks from the scrapped EP, including an inspired take on Radiohead's "Knives Out", a workmanlike runthrough of Beck's "The Golden Age", and a dirge-like reading of Kylie Minogue's disco inferno "Can't Get You Out of My Head".

The EP is rounded out by a nine-minute (!) remix of "Do You Realize??"-- and yes, I would think after nine minutes most people will, indeed, realize-- and two completely new tracks. The intriguingly titled "Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus You Gave Me)" reportedly includes the lyrics: "Jack and Meg are funny/ They've got a modern, backwards, liberal family code/ Brother and sister playin' rock 'n' roll and doin' it on the road/ I bet that van begin to stink/ But then I wonder/ Oh, what Christ would think." If you've got a CD-ROM and some good weed, you might also partake of the included trailer to the band's forthcoming film, Christmas on Mars. Tracklist:

01 Fight Test
02 Can't Get You Out Of My Head [live on KEXP]
03 The Golden Age [live on CD101]
04 Knives Out [live on KCRW]
05 Do You Realize?? [Scott Hardkiss Floating in Space mix]
06 The Strange Design of Conscience
07 Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus You Gave Me)

"But, mate," you protest through a mouthful of fish 'n' chips, "I live 'ere in bloody fookin' England, and I wanna pay three times as much for that material, spread over two CDs and a seven-inch like they always do it!" Well, the Lips've got you covered, as you'll see exactly that come May 12th. Full tracklist information was not available at press time, but is expected to contain both of the previously unreleased songs.

The Lips are headlining the goofy-ass Sasquatch! festival to be held May 24th in Seattle, WA's own Gorge Amphitheatre alongside Coldplay, Modest Mouse, Neko Case, Jurassic 5, and Death Cab for Cutie. Sidestage attractions include Calexico, My Morning Jacket, Pedro the Lion, Minus the Bear, Joseph the Arthur, and Ron the Sexsmith. In the meantime, you might get some confetti in yer afro at any of the following east coast/midwest engagements-- which the Lips have invited gritty garage-rockin' labelmates The Sun to open-- next month:

04-15 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
04-16 Charleston, SC - Center Stage at the Plex
04-17 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
04-18 Norfolk, VA - NorVA Theatre
04-20 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04-21 Baltimore, MD - Recher Theatre
04-23 Boston, MA - The Roxy
04-25 New York, NY - Roseland
04-26 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
04-27 Pittsburgh, PA - Metropol
04-29 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
04-30 Pontiac, MI - Clutch Cargo's
05-03 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
05-04 Champaign, IL - Canopy Club
05-24 Seattle, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Festival)