The Flaming Lips are as bizarre as they are enduring.

The Flaming Lips are as bizarre as they are enduring. Their heady mix of dreamy synth-pop, acidic sampling and crushing walls of sound has been around for almost three decades, and there’s still no sign of slowing down. Their most recent endeavour – a cover of the Beatles’ eighth studio album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – saw them bring along a parade of ÔÇÿfwends’ including the inimitable Miley Cyrus.

Wayne Coyne and his merry men are no strangers to deconstructing ÔÇÿuntouchable’ classic albums. Their unreleased companion album to Dark Side of the Moon, featuring Stardeath and the White Dwarves who also feature on ÔÇÿLovely Rita’, saw the band add talkboxes, synths and a terrifying Henry Rollins whispering in the background to classics such as Money, unfortunately to limited success.

Their approach to Sgt. Pepper’s, however, seems to be a lot more respectful and composed. The distorted wailings of Peaches on their ÔÇÿGreat Gig in the Sky’ cover has mellowed into the husky croonings of Miley Cyrus on ÔÇÿLucy in the Sky With Diamonds’. Don’t let Miley fool you though, the Flaming Lips have not shifted into common consumption; Ms Cyrus along with MGMT, My Morning Jacket and Puscifer are just battering rams that the Lips have used to smash through musical barriers, something they’ve become absurdly efficient at doing. Highlights include the decidedly demented ÔÇÿFor the Benefit of Mr Kite’, a sombre, haunting rendition of ÔÇÿWhen I’m Sixty- Four’ and the final track on the album, ÔÇÿA Day in the Life’.

The Flaming Lips and their ÔÇÿfwends’ are doing a lot more than simply getting by on this album. A veritable tour-de-force of the unorthodox and unexpected, this troupe of deranged Beatles devotees have paid fitting tribute to a band that did exactly as pleased. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.