Well, I was caught unprepared. The Lips -- consisting of Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins, more or less -- have presented us with an art-rock album, but with proper editing. No filler, all killer.

Yes, Coyne's strained singing makes me think Neil Young flirting with the upper registers. But if it's an acquired taste, I've got it. Surrounding him is a swirl of keyboards, real and artificial beats. It's never dance music, but it's a thoroughly modern take on alternative rock, as fresh and accomplished as anything out there.

The spectacular opener, "Race for the Prize," is an example. It serves up a sweeping grandeur that somehow fits neatly into a pop format. Like the best singles, it feels like nothing else you've heard before, and you catch yourself humming along for days. On "Buggin'," the Lips rotate between tinkling keyboards and pounding drums and cymbals. Somehow, it meshes perfectly. On the melancholy "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate," they simmer and build.

The Soft Bulletin is this year's OK Computer, art rock that escapes its worst tendencies. With it, the Flaming Lips have arrived.