Album Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “K.G.”

 

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are one of those bands who I've heard of many times (well, with a name like that they're kind of difficult to miss) without actually checking their music out. However, with two albums new (or new-ish) out and having heard the band recently namechecked by no less an authority than the great and good Danko Jones, I decided that maybe it was time to catch up.

As stated earlier, K.G. is the first of a brace of albums from these Aussie psych-rock merchants and emerged in the dying days of 2020 (we'll have a review of its successor, the newly-released L.G. up on the site later today). Sounding like a more chilled out Queens of the Stone Age (pre-shark jump obviously), the trippy fuzzed up rhythms of songs like Automation, Some Of Us and Minimum Brain Size (which is hiding some barbed lyrics at the band's doubters behind the warm laconic guitar lines get this off to a good start while Straws In The Wind adds some skeletal acoustic guitars into the mix to good effect.

I think the most striking thing about this album is that it's varied and often all over the place musically but it never causes you to tune out and lose your focus and that's a hell of a trick to be able to pull off. There's always something lurking just around the corner to surprise you from the almost disco style guitars mixed with strings of Ontology via the Beck style sleaziness of former single Honey to the funky rhythms of Intrasport. The squally Hungry Wolf Of Fate meanwhile signs this one off in fine style with its sinister verse building up to a proper psychedelic all guitars blazing freak-out on the chorus. Great stuff.

Given that this is no less than KGLW's 16th album, it's fair to say I'm a bit late to the party with this band but I'm certainly glad I got here - this is a hypnotic and mesmerising but thoroughly enjoyable album. Turn on, tune in and float away...

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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