Album Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “L.W.”

 

And here we go with part 2 of our KGLW review double bill. Arriving a mere three months after K.G. (see our earlier review today) landed, L.W. kicks in in proper style with an absolute maelstrom of guitars and drums abruptly giving way to If Not Now Then When?, a funky soulful number which sounds oddly like a garage rock version of something off the Charlatans' Wonderland album.

Certainly if K.G.'s main point of reference was '60s psychedelia then L.W. is aiming for the same era but more for the funky excursions of Sly Stone or Funkadelic as O.N.E. demonstrates as it goes from a dreamy acoustic opening to a strutting rhythm which you can't help but be drawn in by. However, Pleura kicks things up a gear with a BOC/Sabbath style riff underpinned by some sitars which really shouldn't work as well as it does. Supreme Ascendancy keeps up the Eastern feel with the drums skittering all over the shop to create something genuinely unique and fascinating.

Static Electricity returns to the fuzzy psychedelia of K.G. before East West Link which reminds me of something Prince might've done on his Sign o'the Times album starting off all skeletal and funky before some meaty wah-wah guitars kick in and propel the song along. Ataraxia sounds like a glam rock version of Black Sabbath and believe me, that's a compliment with the sludgy riffs, soaring lead guitar and falsetto vocals working well together. See Me almost sounds like some sort of weird but incredibly catchy psychedelic calypso complete with steel drums and marimba before the epic eight minute stoner rock K.G.L.W. well and truly caps this album off in style with a ferocious Sabbath style sludge rock riff which keeps building and building until a proper freakout outro and proves that this band can do heavy as well as the best of 'em.

Like K.G., L.W. is a genuinely startling album with this band showing some real creativity and gleefully disobeying the rulebook. Maybe not the most immediate of albums, it's nevertheless one that you'll want to keep coming back to as you'll discover little new tricks in the mix with every listen. A genuinely fascinating and enjoyable listen.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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