Basement’s Best: Flaming Lips

Flaming Lips get high marks with a little help from their “fwends”

With the same kill-your-idols exuberance displayed on their handful of previous collaborative tribute albums, the Flaming Lips and their sizeable stable of “fwends” dare to tackle one of the most acclaimed albums of, well, ever. A song-for-song rebuild of the album that arguably changed the course of modern music, the Lips and their band of merry pranksters’ take on the Beatles’ monolithic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is one of playful, demented experimentation rather than a wholly faithful retelling. Considering their source material’s unassailable perfection, their kaleidoscopic reinterpretations are surely more welcome than note-for-note retreadings.

Evidenced by the android angularity of the reimagined one-two punch of “Sgt. Pepper”/”With a Little Help from my Friends,” the band is happy to scream, daydream, and hop down rabbit holes of their choosing. Phased-out drumset freakouts bleed over Auto-tuned coos, and stacks of fuzzed-up guitar wash it all down with bad-trip frenzy. The deep-left-field tinkering leaves each song radiating a different shade of Day-Glo, and even though the tracks follow the same order as their predecessor, the continuity and cohesion of “Sgt. Pepper” is largely skewed in favor of the treatments of the songs individually.

After the initial sonic shock of hearing these classics chopped, acid-fried and Frankensteined back together, the guest list is sure to draw a secondary balking. The Flaming Lips enlisted 28 of their “fwends” to join them in their joyful dance atop Sgt. Pepper’s grave. Contributors range from obvious psychedelic torch-bearers (Morgan Delt, Foxygen and the Flaming Lips’ alter-ego Electric Wurms), to alt-rock royalty (J Mascis, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and My Morning Jacket) to the downright unexpected (Phantogram, Tegan and Sara and Wayne Coyne’s evident soul sister Miley Cyrus). The collaborations are hit-and-miss, however, as some of the “fwends” are buried so deeply in the mix that they’d be unnoticed without the liner notes’ say-so.

Curiously, the album’s most victorious moments come from playing it straight. Cyrus’ reading of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” sticks close to the original, and the chorus’ A-bomb potency perfectly balances the verses’ delicate harpsichord dream. Cyrus, who also shows up on “A Day in the Life” to play a deadpan Paul over a cool, lean beat, surprises as one of the most solid collaborators on the record.

In what may be the most blasphemous move of the whole record, the Lips forego the legendarily sustained final piano chord on “A Day in the Life,” instead opting to suck the song suddenly into a vacuum of silence. As usual, the Flaming Lips have the last laugh, so you may as well laugh along.

KNDS Suggests

"Liberty Street" - The New Basement Tapes
With Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes, Middle Brother) at the helm this time around, the supergroup spins Dylan's lost lyrics with a soft gospel reverence."

Angel Duster” – Run the Jewels
The victory lap of their worth-the-hype sophomore effort, Run the Jewels’ slick, creeping closer should hold us over until the duo drops its all-cat-sounds remix album “Meow the Jewels.”

"May as Well" - Angel Olsen
Recalling the haunted twang of Karen Dalton, this bonus track highlights the deluxe reissue of Olsen’s sublime “Burn Your Fire for No Witness,” release earlier this year. Recalling the front-porch field recordings of Alan Lomax, the skeleton song aches with a haunted beauty.

"Stepping Stone" - Fly Golden Eagle
A whiskey-breathed, blotter-tongued blues romp that wouldn't sound the least bit out of place in the "Nuggets" collection, "Stepping Stone" highlights the barroom psychedelia of FGE's staggering double-LP debut "Quartz."

"Wonderful" - Lucius
A live cut from the delicious expansion of last year's already-excellent debut, "Wildewoman," the group's interpretation of My Morning Jacket's instant classic is one big shiver up and down the spine.