Any idea what this is? (Flaming Lips content)

[Devo-lution]

YouTube - The Flaming Lips - Watching The Planets (2009)

Really into the Lips' album Embryonic lately. This is the closing track and each time I hear it, I can't help but wonder what it is they use.

It seems to be a dirt pedal, but the ones I own/tested are all way more gnarly than this one. Also, it seems to pack somewhat more punch than an ordinary muff...

[Footbutt]

sounds like the whole mix is "lo-fi" distorted somehow, which could add to the sounds of that redundant riff.
don't get me wrong, i dig it. the entire tone of the song fits the groove, but the quality is also degraded for being a youtube upload.

all that to say it sound like some kind of fuzz pedal.
generally, most "labeled" bands don't use really unique pedals. they use what's readily available, if something should break/fail during tour.

most of us gearheads love us some unique, one-of-a-kind things that if they crap out we'd be lost without "our" sound.

[BogeyBass]

Its hard to pinpoint exactly what, stuff they use live is different than recordings. In the studio Wayne Coyne, Michael Ivins, and Steven Drozd all share bass playing. Each one of them uses a different bass tone. To me alot of the recordings sound like a 50 or 100watt tube head turned up pretty good. Otherwise Michael Ivins plays bass most the time live and i think he is a big roland/boss fan. Some stuff here on this thread
which mention these boss pedals, from a bass player magazine interview
boss odb3
boss bf2
boss syb3
boss syb5

Otherwise their is lots of interviews with the lips about what they use in the studio, i did a quick search and found this

a few really fun videos of them in the studio Heremuch more fun to listen and watch.

Otherwise The Flaming lips have a great collection of music which spans many years, Clouds taste metallic and At war with the mystics are my favorite. But pretty much all the albums will grow on you. Pink robots and Embryonic get stuck in my head all the time.

[OldFoamy]

My pc speakers lack in the low end department, but from what I CAN hear, it's a fuzz pedal of some sort with possible lo-fi studio efforts made. Knowing how the Lips and Dave Friddman operate, and from what my ears are also telling me, I'd bet it's hitting the compressor pretty hard and squashed something ugly. It could be blended tracks or any other studio measure as well.

What I would do is kick on whatever fuzz pedal you have, and explore pushing your compressor/compressor pedal if you have one. Hit the front end hard, and/or try squashing it heavily while at different settings. I think it will get you close in a live situation.