I ordered the Fiery Furnaces' new EP online, like, forever ago, and it only just arrived in time to give it a spin and pop out a quickie review before the paper hit the press.

At first I blamed the tardiness on my white baseball hat-wearing neighbors swiping my mail in a moment of Natty Ice-induced genius.

But I promptly realized they would have returned it after subjecting themselves to even the first track.

Because the Fiery Furnaces are not for everyone.

They're not even for most "anyones."

This is 'cause the Fiery Furnaces deliver some of the most bizarre prog-pop tunes in the galaxy.

It's theatrical, ADD-type stuff, bustling with dizzying merry-go-round organs, convulsive guitars, syncopated ragtime keys, fanciful vocal narratives, electro-beeping and lyrics about goat heads in deli cases.

The EP is modestly (or perhaps just lazily) titled EP.

EPs tend to be short, trivial things, but this album's 10 tracks (B-sides, singles and new and previously unreleased songs) clocks in at 41 minutes. That's heftier than most Weezer full-lengths.

Nothing tops "My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found" or "Straight Street" from Blueberry Boat, the sister-brother duo's now-canonical sophomore album that dropped jaws last year.

But EP certainly will tide us kids over until the next LP emerges.

That one is apparently supposed to feature their grandmom singing duets, so who knows?

It might just be the best thing since Belgium wheat beers. For now, EP satiates, especially the petulant "Single Again" and the sunny, horn-heavy "Tropical-Iceland," which is catchier than the clap.

-- Reviewed by Caralyn Green