There are a select few bands out there in the music world that absolutely do not sound like anybody else. No matter how hard you try to group them, they stand in a class alone, defying and yet defining popular music. The Flaming Lips is one of those bands.

It’s a prestigious and generous honor to be deemed unclassifiable, but the Oklahoma City band has earned it album after album of their spectacular 23-year career. Its new album, At War With the Mystics, is a declaration of musical synthesis used to create an entirely individual style and sound.

At War With the Mystics sounds like the ’60s psychedelia of our parents’ generation updated to fit the technological age of 2006, if we lived on Mars. The grassroots sounds of bands like the Grateful Dead and Creedence Clearwater Revival act as a base underneath synthesized robot noises, electronic beats and Eastern-influenced guitar rhythms.

Singer Wayne Coyne’s folksy classic rock vocals almost don’t belong in this amalgamation of musical genres from all over the universe, but distinctly define the Flaming Lips’ sound. While the new album does have some rough spots (overly long instrumentals) during the middle, it begins and ends strong.

Catchier tunes and unconventionally structured beats and melodies make the new effort stand out from previous works, making the album sound experimental and progressive. “”W.A.N.D”” and “”Haven’t Got a Clue”” both feature strong drum beats with counterpoint vocals.

“”Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”” is a catchy political Ǹtude that rails against big business and rampant capitalism. Coyne’s vocals soar above handclaps, spaceship noises, rhythmic guitars and a chorus of “”Yeahs,”” slightly changing the chorus every round.

“”If you could watch everybody work while you just lay on your back/Would you do it?/If you could take all the love without giving any back/Would you do it?””

Obviously, they haven’t.