Flaming Lips vs. Broken Social Scene

I never listened to the Flaming Lips before. Never hearda this album. Listening to it right now. LOVE IT.

Love the synth bass on Spoonful. Love the drum riffs on Spiderbite. (Drum "riffs" or whatever "musician" types "call" them.) Love the space given to each instrument/part.

Reading the wikipedia article makes me think I will ultimately be annoyed by Wayne Coyne. But for now, this is everything that I like about Modest Mouse even though I don't like all Modest Mouse. Also getting hints of Granddaddy and a bouquet of David Bowie, but I haven't really listened to much spacey/psychy/slightly-drug-related pop, and so I'm probably missing the direct comparisons.

On the other hand, I own the Broken Social Scene album. I was pretty enthusiastic about this album when I first heard it, and I still like it. It's creative. The music tends a little too quickly to noise, which means I can't play it without Hannah yelling at me. Most of the lyrics are irredeemably abstracted. (Counter-example: Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl.) The swears, vaguely political language, and sexual imagery I find alienating because I don't understand the meaning of, say, wanting to fuck the cause. I don't understand the writing but it makes me think the writer is a bit self-tragic.

So do I vote for love at first sight or for something that's already past the honeymoon phase? Tough.

Do I pick the pop "alt" option? Or the indie-insider option?

Maybe a little bit of head (FL) vs heart (BSS) here?

I think it's a little suspect how popular BSS is with this group -- this group with its many and close ties to Canadian music. How can you not root for BSS? But it's kind of the Canadian indie rock equivalent of the 1992 US Olympic Basketball team.

I also think it's a little suspect how popular Flaming Lips are outside this group. Are they just ear candy? Serious art or sophomoric spectacle? (I know, I know, this from the guy who put Laurie Anderson on the list. Hypocrites suck.)

I'm focusing on the negative again, which is bad, since both of these albums are great and I like both of them. I must be subconsciously trying to piss people off. Especially since I think I'm going to go with Flaming Lips. Sorry. I only do as I am programmed to do.