The archetypal music business fairy tale: Form a band, practice, get a few gigs, record some songs, make an album, practice some more, play more gigs, get discovered, sign with a label, become stars. Of course, along the way, there are the dragons and demons of reality, but that's the basic storyboard. Then there's the way of The Sun: signing with a label before it was a band. It went something like this: Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Chris Burney - who played bass in Tim Easton's band - circulated a demo tape he'd made, got rejected by a ton of independent labels, then found a believer in current manager, Brian Klein, who arranged for a showcase with Warner Bros. executives. Except Burney didn't have a band, so he started to call friends back home in Columbus, Ohio, including drummer Sam Brown of the New Bomb Turks. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen," says Brown, subbing for an ailing Burney during an interview. "But I'm not easily dazzled. I knew Chris had something." The audition - playing in a Los Angeles practice space with just a few Warner Bros. executives on hand - led to a contract. A strange story• Well, yes, and one that caused some awkward moments when the band returned home. Some in the Columbus music scene didn't take too kindly to a band that had never played a show, but had a record deal. "Columbus is kind of a weird place, and it can be competitive," Brown says, noting that there are some enclaves of independent labels that tend to promote their own and no one else. "But it was a natural thing. There we were, and we hadn't really proven ourselves and we had this great deal and a CD," the six-song "Love & Death EP." It's a promising, engaging effort. Musically, it's scattershot in the best way, ranging from straight-ahead rock to fuzzed-out psychedelia that seems to be constructed out of bits and pieces of various influences. There have been comparisons to the Violent Femmes and Sonic Youth, but Brown doesn't hear that in The Sun's music - or at least, he doesn't want to hear about it. "I just say that we're a rock band," he says. "I really don't try to describe the music, because it is all over the place. It's a bit schizophrenic, but there's a cohesiveness to it at the same time. What I say is, you'll like at least one of our songs." Additional Information:

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The Flaming Lips With The Sun 7:30 p.m. Sunday $20 in advance; $22 door Metropol, Strip District (412) 323-1919

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