King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard -- K.G.: Review

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard -- K.G.

[Flightless]

Australian psych rock alchemists King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are back with K.G.: their first self-titled album, their second release of 2020, and their 16th record overall. After a prevalent global tour in 2019 following two releases, King Gizzard returns with their one and only studio release this year. While not seemingly in the mainstream, 2020 has been a busy year for King Gizzard.

In January, the band released three concert recordings from their 2019 worldwide tour in support of the non-profit Wildlife Victoria to aid the fight against Australian forest fires. They also released their first concert film Chunky Shrapnel, paired with an online debut and a corresponding album. With a teaser track for their next album coming out this very week, it’s a challenge to keep pace with King Gizzard but always exciting to see what they’re creating.

Last year, the band released two records, diving into both thrash metal--Infest the Rats’ Nest--and electric blues--Fishing For Fishies--both of which received universal acclaim. King Gizzard is well-known for their eclectic style, jumping from prog-metal to jazz rock to cowboy audiobooks at the tip of a hat. One of their most beloved records Flying Microtonal Banana dived into Middle-Eastern microtonal music, infusing it with their psychedelic rock tunes to make a stellar record. It’s droning jammy sequences and groovy, hypnotic melodies made its songs some of King Gizzard’s best songs and sold their audiences on the concept of microtonal garage rock.

With K.G.(subtitled Explorations in Microtonal Tuning, Volume 2), King Gizzard returns to this concept with another batch of tracks that show a different age of maturity in the band’s sound. Six albums, three years, and several world tours in between, King Gizzard has evolved into a different band and wasn’t prepping to release more of the same with the experience under their belt. Also, COVID forced each member to quarantine from each and caused this record to be their first isolated record yet. Unlike any Gizzard record before, K.G. was produced by members making fragments on their own and sending the bits back and from between the band to record the tracks.

While I commend the Gizzard boys’ abilities to adapt to new music-making, the inevitable growing pains show themselves in the tracks, and makes K.G. one of the weakest Gizzard records in years.

The lack of cohesion is the crux of K.G. 's tracks and really shows itself on the album's weaker cuts like “Ontology” that feature rigid song structure and weak dynamics. “Minimum Brain Size” is another song that gets a little too repetitive and fails to shake things up throughout the track. Even the single “Automation” loses its magic after a couple listens, melding too much into the sounds on some of the aforementioned songs. “Oddlife” is probably the most egregious example, not only with its undeserved five-minute runtime but also in its vocals that are mixed so low, it’s impossible to hear what Stu is singing. The messier tone of the record in its writing, performances, and mixing are really all consequences of adapting to this new style of songwriting.

However, for as many issues I see in this album from the change in setting, I see just as many or more highlights that come through on some of the album’s brighter cuts. The first single “Honey” is unbelievably groovy and pretty, making use of microtones in a comforting way I never would have imagined. The sturdy rhythm section and the syncopated acoustic riff are so infectiously catchy. Though I do have gripes with some of the heavier songs here, “Some Of Us” and the closer “The Hungry Wolf of Fate” are the most robust, with the wild psych freak outs and chugging metal riffs that made King Gizzard.

The intriguing “Intrasport” is a Turkish-inspired eurobeat banger and is guitarist Joey Walker’s main contribution to the album. Walker dug into it in the latest edition of Gizzymail, King Gizzard’s fan newsletter: “I think my idea for “Intrasport” was a Turkish version of a 90s house song - It gets me one step closer to a duet with Darren Hayes from Savage Garden.” The techno song direction is a first for King Gizzard and makes the song a stand-out in the track list.

“Straws In The Wind” is by far the most cohesive and groovy song on the whole record. Being keyboardist Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s main contribution, he does the vocals. This song somehow channels the right amount of live cohesion that comes on normal Gizzard records with spice in its wonky drumbeat, twangy guitar licks, and skittering synth lines. “Straws In The Wind” not only features the best instrumentation on the record but also the most substantive lyrics that show Kenny-Smith questioning the apocalyptic reality our world is in right now. No other song on K.G. gets my keister rockin’ like this one, and it definitely is my greatest takeaway from the record.

On K.G., King Gizzard struggles adapting to music making in the pandemic but still manages to make a couple great cuts here and there when diving back into microtonal rock.

3/5.

Listen To: “Straws In The Wind”, “Intrasport”

RIYL: Ty Segall, The Oh Sees, Parquet Courts