Music > Album Reviews

King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard - Flying Microtonal Banana

23/02/17

KingG&tLW hail from Geelong in Australia, but sound like Berlin 1972 channelling San Francisco 1968 through a love of psychedelia. After creating an album shrugging off all comers in Nonagon Infinity, gifted a microtonal guitar by a friend, they harnessed its individual sound, adding Turkish horns and harmonica. Rattlesnake directs Hawkwind’s destructive, transformative energy onto a plateau of sheer abandon. Groovy Melting has deeply seductive and international class. Straight ahead 80’s rock Open Water explodes with insane horn and “that” microtonal snake charming action. Sleep Drifter employs a harmonica, chillaxing a bewitching groove; Midnight Cowboy reimagined by Can. Clearly, none of this is new - verve and commitment to delivering an opulent, full on wig-out elevates them. FMB can seem dated, like an undiscovered classic though, not derivative pastiche. Doom City’s horn/harmonica suggests lunatic laughter during darker gaps, the frenetic piece disorientating, taunting with megastoned malevolence. Trademark vocal instrument melody infuses Nuclear Fusion, metronomic and hypnotic, I could’ve listened to it for hours. The title track ends the album with primal shamanism, staking their claim on GOATs empire of World Psychedelia, without quite touching the cloth. This is 20% of their albums scheduled for 2017 release. KinGizLizWiz are ablaze at the moment, don’t hesitate to catch them live before they burn themselves out. 

8.5/10