![]() ![]() It's not a perfect album by any means, but it is a worthy cover of a nigh-on perfect album, capturing the joie de vivre of the original and dousing it in some serious lunacy for good measure. At any rate, "A Day In The Life" - arguably the Beatles' best song - lacks the emotional force of the original, and "When I'm Sixty-Four" is missing a nonchalant bounce or three. Viewed through such a lens, it's impossible not to appreciate the sheer audacity and fun of it all. Back in the mid-1980s, the easiest way for underground bands to draw ideological battlelines separating themselves from their 1970s arena-rock antecedents was to appropriate their most hallowed songs for devious ends. ![]() How do you improve an original so loved, and so timeless, without drawing unfavourable comparison? I suppose it's best to think of a project like this as an experiment, or a fanboyish indulgence. Here's PART THREE of an ongoing series about The Flaming Lips’ With A Little Help From My Fwends. The pitfalls of the album, however, are the result of the endeavour rather than the finished product. One thing is also quite clear: everyone is having a whale of a time. ![]() Cult tweesters Tegan & Sara spruce up "Lovely Rita" without diluting its charm, J Mascis' squalling guitar is all over the opening track like a rash (though a little bit less irritating and a lot noisier), and Foxygen and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT make a racket on the reprise. And heck, the supporting cast present almost outnumber the roster on the original's album art. The songs here are given such a spritely, anarchic makeover that it's hard to imagine John Lennon not being a fan, and in that sense, it's unlikely to offend any die-hard fans of the original. The Title is With A Little Help From My Fwends. It's an arrangement of unyielding silliness and agitation levelled by the ear-worming simplicity of the melody. Heres PART NINE of an ongoing series about The Flaming Lips’ With A Little Help From My Fwends. Take the lead single, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which even includes an unlikely guest turn from Miley Cyrus. It makes for a compelling listen: the blur of relentless noise grounded by pop hooks as old as pop music. The approach here is the same as has been the Lips' stock in trade for yonks: indulging every maximalist impulse until you get an unrelenting caterwaul of beats, sirens and fuzz. ![]()
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