FLAMING LIPS

HEAR IT IS is the first full-length Flaming Lips album, and most of the time is difficult to imagine that this is the same band that would later release such classics as IN A PRIEST DRIVEN AMBULANCE and HIT TO DEATH IN THE FUTURE HEAD. Indeed, except for guitarist/vocalist Wayne Coyne, this IS a different band. Musically it is a restrained record; there is little evidence of structured feedback squalls and walls of sound that characterize much of the group's later work. That said, lyrically, this album could only be a Flaming Lips record. "This is the last song ever written about trains and brains and rain, ain't that strange" is perfectly in line with "She Don't Use Jelly," the Lips' 1993 hit single. Collectors should note that the original CD release of this album contained five tracks from the band's self-titled debut 12-inch. Standouts include the blatantly contrived controversy of "Jesus Shootin' Heroin," with freaked-out, noisenik choruses; "She Is Death," a pretty, guitar-led track with sweet vocals that smartly offset the lyrics; and "Godzilla Flick," which is--oddly enough--a profoundly sad song about loneliness and suicide. It closes with a hyperactive, grungy cover of "Summertime Blues."

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