How did they get that drum sound?

reverb

connecting the mic wire before it goes to the board to nipples and slap the nipples together

>>73914018
but tons of 80s songs have used reverb on their drums and it makes them sound terrible

>>73914066
slap back delay like 50's rockabilly guitar sound
>I have never listened to the flaming lips

I'm guessing they used a lot of compression and distortion on the drum track

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but in the pitchfork doc they talk a bit about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=widmy3lqT_w&t=22m45s