King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard- ‘K.G.’
Unpredictability has become the hallmark of King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard, with their forays through a plethora of musical genres often as unusual as the band’s name itself. Their discography ranges from stripped back acoustic folk (‘Paper Mâché Dream Balloon’) to high octane thrash metal (‘Infest the Rats’ Nest’), and the band’s prolificacy peaked when they released five albums within the space of 12 months in 2017. This variety– coupled with the unrelenting regularity of their releases– has earned King Gizzard an adoring fanbase as well as mainstream recognition, and each album showcases a different aspect of their undeniable talent.
Over the years, fans have wisened up to King Gizzard’s mercurial nature, speculating about the band’s next direction on the dawn of each new release, and November’s ‘K.G.’ was no different, but the truth is only the band members know what to expect. However, this album bucks the trend of relentless forward progress, revisiting old sounds while simultaneously exploring new territory. This is owing to the return of their use of the microtonal instruments first employed on 2017’s ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’. Inspired by Turkish instrumentation, the band modified their equipment by adding frets to create notes within notes. The resulting sound is unlike what we are used to in Western music, reminiscent of a Turkish bazaar where everyone has consumed copious amounts of acid.
This is most apparent on Intrasport, treading new ground by venturing into a genre where disco collides with what could be imagined as the Middle Eastern equivalent of acid house. Though completely bizarre, this fusion of styles is highly effective, and Intrasport represents the furthest steps away from the band’s back catalogue this album takes. The lyrics replicate the sense of psychedelic confusion underpinning the song, as guitarist Joey Walker sings ‘Don’t take it personally / My hands are disappearing.’
As is King Gizzard’s style (which is why it is sacrilegious to listen to any of their albums on shuffle), Intrasport merges seamlessly into the following track, Oddlife, a more dissonant and reflective song, pleasantly contrasting the intensity of its predecessor. The lyrics encapsulate the eccentricity of the band, and when frontman Stu Mackenzie sings ‘Lemme tell you one thing about my life / It’s weird,’ this is a fact that anyone who has trawled through all 16 of their LPs would struggle to refute. And while many of their albums may differ sonically, the middle section of the song showcases the type of intertwining riffs which are a staple of King Gizzard’s music, with similarly intricate guitar work exhibited on ‘Minimum Brain Size’ and ‘Automation’.
Overall, this album hints at a new direction for the band without fully taking the listener there. However, this is not a criticism, as 16 albums worth of constant evolution have given King Gizzard the right to re-explore some old material. And while ‘K.G.’ is a suggestion of what the future may hold for the band, for their next release they’ll probably end up drawing inspiration from some extremely obscure subsection of the musical canon just to confuse us. This is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard we are talking about, after all.
