The Flaming Lips are back on the scene with the release of their latest, the Fight Test EP. The disc is a collection of remixes, covers and new material.

Of least note is the EP title track, which appears in its glorious Yoshimian splendor. That isn’t to say that the song isn’t worthwhile. Fight Test is an admission of the necessity to defend the important things from danger, although it cautions against physical violence.

The accompanying video on the Enhanced CD further elaborates Wayne Coyne’s point, spinning a parable about non-violent resistance. Coyne and crew play on the open plains in front of a setting sun accompanied on drums by what is either a Native American or former Lip, Richard English. Coyne sports a stylish fur hat and a smile.

The video’s protagonist is a boy who is forced to react against a rather bulky man perhaps three times his girth. The whole narrative aspect takes place in a dusty barn with strangely sunny “Fight Club”-esque overtones. Eventually, our scrawny hero claws out a handful of dung and threatens his attacker into submission, to the chagrin of onlookers.

A new version of Yoshimi‘s first single, “Do You Realize?? (Scott Hardkiss Floating in Space Remix),” weighs in at a hefty 9:06. While adding electronic drums, keyboards and blips, and further affecting Coyne’s already spacey vocals, the track is no doubt danceable and retains the undeniable smile-inducing quality of the original.

Also appearing are three covers. The first is from the Lips’ recent tour with Beck Hansen. “The Golden Age” is almost exactly the Beck song but is uniquely suited to Coyne’s vocal presence and the Lips’ spacey sound-effect addiction. Rumbling rockets and electronic tones whiz about under the song’s instrumentation.

The second cover is the band’s rendition of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” A far cry from the original, the FL version is awash in strings and is decidedly more subdued than Ms. Minogue’s version. Perhaps the best addition to the song is the undercurrent of timpani that introduces the chorus. It’s a different flavor, much like Fountains of Wayne’s cover of “Baby One More Time,” and is a welcome (if somewhat disorienting) departure from the original.

Rounding out the collection of borrowed material is Radiohead’s “Knives Out.” Steven Drozd’s neurotic guitar lines punctuate the piece in ways that surely make Yorke and friends proud. The Lips also add an instrumental break that feels right at home, unobtrusive and seamless.

Two new songs also find their way to the EP. The first, “The Strange Design of Conscience,” is a purely sequenced affair. The track lays down a mellow drum-machine beat, and Coyne asks, “Given the hopeless natures of our times / How do we change things?”

The other new track is completely opposite. “Thank You Jack White for the Fiber Optic Jesus That You Gave Me” is, well, a thank you to the White Stripes’ Jack White for the fiber-optic Jesus, which he gave to Coyne backstage at one of Beck tour’s many stops.

Of the most interest to the band’s rabid fans is the sizable trailer of the upcoming DVD “Last Christmas on Mars.” With Coyne explaining the premise as “Maybe ‘Eraserhead’ or ‘Dead Man’ crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and maybe ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ except done without real actors or money, and set at Christmas-time,” the trailer is enticing to say the least.

Perhaps the first X-Mas movie to use the phrase “We’re all f-cked,” the trailer highlights the Steven Drozd character’s harrowing devotion to old St. Nick’s memory. Viewers are also treated to a green-alien version of Coyne, doubtlessly decked out to resemble a kind of freaky, benevolent Christmas tree.

While those who haven’t picked up Yoshimi would probably be better served to pick up the full album, growing legions of Lips will no doubt be satisfied with the new material that made its way to the disc.

Sample tracks, videos, T-shirt iron-ons, flash animations, printable posters, schematics of the infamous Boombox Experiments and a whole lot of other things are available at the Lips’ site, www.flaminglips.com.