Cover Alert | Flaming Lips Tackle Tame Impala

Earlier this fall the current kings of psychedelic rock – the Flaming Lips and Tame Impala -teamed up for a handful of co-headlining shows on the East Coast. Last night the two like-minded bands reconvened to kick off a trio of California dates that continues tomorrow night with an All-Hallows Eve gig at the Bill Graham in San Francisco – which we already envision to be quite a night of people letting their freak flag fly.

In addition to sharing some bills together, the bands headed into the studio to show off their mutual admiration by recording each other’s songs for a limited edition vinyl, split EP. The four-song release, which will be sold exclusively at their upcoming gigs, features Tame Impala offering up their takes on “Are You a Hypnotist?” (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) and “Silver Trembling Hands” (Embryonic), while the Lips put their spin on “Elephant” (Lonerism) and “Runaway House” (InnerSpeaker).

Yesterday, Wayne Coyne & Co. shared a music video for their version of “Elephant.” The Flaming Lips stayed relatively faithful to the original, though they did ratchet up the fuzz and vocal distortion to eleven. Let’s check it out:

Written By: Jeffrey Greenblatt