FEATURE:
Revisiting…
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G.
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FOR this outing of Revisiting…
I wanted to feature one of the many albums by the Australian band, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Their latest album, Omnium Gatherum, came out in April. It is their twentieth studio album! That is amazing when we consider that the band’s debut arrived in 2012. Ten years after they came onto the scene, the band are still producing such different and always-moving music. They never repeat themselves. I wanted to spend time shining a light on K.G. Released in 2020, it was their only album that year (slackers!). I am going to round up with a couple of reviews for the album. Their sixteenth studio album, one could forgive the guys for taking it easy or reigning it in. No such problems on the amazing double album, K.G. Slightly underrated in my view, some might have missed the album. For those not initiated into the world of the band, go and listen to the amazing K.G. It is an album that was produced by band member Stu Mackenzie. In terms of track length and numbers, it is fairly conventional – as the band released an album earlier this year, Made in Timeland, containing two fifteen-minute songs! If you have not heard K.G., then I think that you need to! This is what AllMusic wrote when they reviewed a typically innovative album from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard:
“Over a ten-year span spent releasing an album every few weeks (or so it seemed) King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard never repeated themselves, always pushing forward and trying new things whether it was lengthy jazz excursions, gloom-and-doom synth prog, or thundering thrash metal. That changed some on 2020's K.G., where the band revisit the approach used on Flying Microtonal Banana, the group's 2017 album built around the avant-garde sounds of their custom-made guitars and altered instruments. Stuck in their various homes during the global pandemic, the band gravitated toward the unique instruments and built a batch of songs using their non-Western tunings and tones.
Unlike that album, though, where that almost felt like a (mostly successful) gimmick, this time the guitars are more fully integrated into the songs. "Automation" and "Some of Us" kick and twist like classic King Gizzard-style psychedelic rockers, the acoustic guitars of "Straws in the Winds" have a snarling bite that matches the evil sneer of the vocals and sentiment of the lyrics, "Oddlife"'s guitar solos are pure prog, and "The Hungry Wolf of Fate" revisits the blown-out metal attack of their most recent studio LP with a nice mix of restraint and explosive power. Even though much of the record transverses familiar sonic territory, the band still find some room for surprises. The acid house synths percolating behind the wall of guitars on "Minimum Brain Size" are a nice touch; the group work up a sweaty groove on "Ontolgy" and in the process sound something like Talking Heads butting heads with Kid Creole & the Coconuts; and in the album's only real shocker, they drop some bubbly Madchester grooves on "Intrasport." The sound is so slinky and giddily elastic, it makes one wonder what a full album of King Gizzard songs made for dancing would be like. Judging from this, and the band's track record, probably pretty great. Apart from this one song, King Gizzard don't break much new ground on K.G., and while that in itself might be something of a letdown, the result is still quite pleasing. Listening to them tread a little bit of water is still better than listening to the fresh ideas of 99.9 percent of other groups, especially when it's done with the energy and passion the band exhibit here”.
Among my favourite albums of 2020, I do wonder where King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard get their energy, ideas and sense of drive. They are an amazingly consistent band. Whereas most groups release a new album every couple of years or so, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard can’t wait that long. 2021’s L.W. was seen as the second part of a double album – though I want to pull them apart and focus on K.G. itself. They are bursting with music! This is what Under the Radar wrote for their review of K.G. They were impressed with an album that ranks among the best from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard:
“Ten years since their formation, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are back with yet another heavyweight entry into their ever-growing discography. Their sixteenth studio album, K.G., subtitled Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 2, fits comfortably into the Melbourne outfit’s oeuvre.
K.G. is the closest thing to a self-titled album we’ll ever get from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. It’s a fair representation of the band, with their normal calling cards: syncopated rhythms, microtonal instruments that echo Arabic and Turkish influences, flutes, harmonica, and deep lyrics.
King Gizz have always been clever at pairing genre-bending song structures with meaningful lyrics, packed with philosophical motifs and activism shrouded in science fiction. K.G. certainly holds that trend. Tracks such as “Minimum Brain Size” and “Ontology” contain complex observations of human existence, but these revelations can be easily missed because of the songs’ captivating delivery.
Longtime fans of the Gizz can recognise certain similarities with 2017’s microtonal study, Flying Microtonal Banana—the first two singles from K.G., “Honey” and “Some of Us,” both feature microtonal instruments predominantly. But where the band’s past work differs from K.G. is in the risks the now six-piece continues to take. It wouldn’t be enough for K.G.’s 10 tracks to merely pick up where Banana left off. Instead, King Gizz continue to explore genres (disco, funk, house, and cinematic music, to name a few), lyrical content, and fan interaction. The fourth single, “Automation,” was accompanied by a “DIY project” for fans: the band supplied raw audio files and footage; in return, fans could remix the song and make their own music videos. The move echoed King Gizz’s ethos of lo-creativity, and gave the band’s loyal fanbase a chance to connect amidst a global pandemic.
This gesture of community in the face of adversity is a typical King Gizz move. The band released six live albums in 2020 (the latest, their 2016 San Francisco show), with a portion of the profits going to Australian wildlife relief. They released a concert film, Chunky Shrapnel, in April. And at a time when everyone is stuck at home, facing uncertainty, grief, and loss, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have given something special to the world: the ability for fans to connect, and to (virtually) travel the world alongside the band’s diverse musical influences. (www.kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com).
A remarkable album that remains a little underplayed. It got some positive reviews, but not quite the same sort of acclaim that it warrants. That is why I wanted to put it here and encourage people to give it another spin. If you are not aware of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, then there is no right place or album to start with. I would think K.G. is as good a starting point as any! The Melbourne band showed that, even though they release albums quite frequently, this work rate…
DOESN’T dent the quality.