Search The Line of Best Fit
Search The Line of Best Fit

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard aren’t short of inspiration on their 16th album in eight years

Release date: 20 November 2020
9/10
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24 November 2020, 12:59 Written by Kieran Macadie
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Anyone would think that a band releasing two albums a year on average for 8 years would eventually become uninspired and want to take some sort of a break. Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard haven’t stopped since the release of their debut album 12 Bar Bruise in 2012 – yet they’re still teething with innovative ideas.

This is proven with their new 16th studio album K.G. which serves as a sequel to their 2017 album Flying Microtonal Banana, now one of their most highly regarded albums. Recorded and produced remotely with the band scattered around Melbourne thanks to the ongoing pandemic, K.G. shows that the band were built to swiftly adapt to new situations and not lose their creative spark. Not a single drop of that unnamed alchemical-something that makes King Gizz so special is missing on this album.

K.G. opens with a short western-inspired instrumental track titled “K.G.L.W” that slowly builds up to the track “Automation” – a classic King Gizzard tune full of their iconic fuzzy guitars and psychedelic instrumental fills.

Much like the album’s 2017 prequel, K.G. was recorded using a microtonal musical scale that is traditionally used in Turkish and Arabic music that requires quarter tone tunings on custom made instruments. “Automation” is one standout track full of brilliant microtonal guitar riffs. The album continues with high-energy microtonal tracks that tirelessly animate the middle of the album. Despite being surrounded by some of the album’s weaker tracks, “Straws in the Wind” contains brilliant acoustic guitar and drumbeats that sound unearthly but wonderful in the microtonal scale.

“Intrasport” is undoubtedly the best track on K.G. that projects the aesthetic of an '80s pop song with its synth-based hooks and groovy melody. It’s the track that truly proves the endless amounts of inspiration and ideas King Gizz continue to pump out - as it’s a track that’s nothing like they’ve ever done before.

The album closes with the penultimate and beautifully melodic acoustic-based lead-single “Honey”, wetting the listeners appetites for the heavy and dramatic final track “The Hungry Wolf of Fate” which is an outstanding close to the album.

Overall, it’s clear that King Gizz’s tireless effort over the past 8 years still has no end in sight as they release yet another radical and innovative album which doesn’t fall short of the endless inspiration that King Gizzard continue to shine.

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