Welcome back to Tales from the Turntable! Usually, I would be here explaining something even from a time gone by — rarely ever going past the year 2000, with some exceptions. This week, I’ll be covering something ongoing. Since starting this column, I’ve always wanted this to be something more than just music history. Every so often, I’d like to highlight an artist, not only to plug the music I enjoy, but to offer recommendations to whoever happens to be reading along each Friday. To start off, I’ll be covering one of my favorite bands of all time, one that I’ve seen live numerous times and have been following for years now.
Out of Melbourne, Australia spawned a surf-punk band in mid-2010. At their genesis, members quickly clashed over their name, with one wanting the band to be named “Lizard Wizard,” while another wanted “Gizzard Gizzard.” The compromise? “King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.”
Right off the bat, the seven-piece band began recording their own music, featuring a bluesy, blown-out brand of psychedelic surf rock. Just a year later, after hours of unreleased demos and recording, the band put out their first EP, “Willoughby’s Beach,” a name that pays homage to a local hangout spot outside Melbourne. King Gizzard quickly ascended the rungs of underground popularity, navigating the Aussie circuit with their outlandish name and sound.
2012 would see the group put out their debut record, “12 Bar Bruise,” featuring a slightly more polished sound. 2013 would see two albums, the spaghetti-western audiobook “Eyes Like the Sky,” and the reverb-drenched “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs.” The latter would prove to be a seminal turn for their sound, featuring the 16-minute opener “Head On/Pill,” showcasing their ability to create longer-formed songs with ease while keeping things interesting during the entire cut.
Around this time, the rest of the world became privy to King Gizzard. While Australian psychedelic rock wasn’t unknown (entirely thanks to the bafflingly popular Tame Impala), more and more began to take notice of all the innovations coming from all across the nation. With each forthcoming record, the group’s popularity ballooned. 2014 saw the release of “I’m In Your Mind Fuzz,” featuring a side-long pop medley and much more accessible rock than what they had been doing previously.
Up to this point, the band was seen mostly as a novelty to those outside Australia — a band that could only mimic the sounds of long-forgotten 60s psychedelic rock or dated surf punk. 2015 saw this narrative change when the band put out back-to-back concept records showcasing their untapped virtuosity and sonic variety. “Quarters!” sported four tracks, each ten minutes and ten seconds long, blending their retro sound with jazz fusion and slow jams. The lead single “The River” quickly became a hit in underground circles, partly due to its mesmerizing hand-animated music video.
“Paper Mache Dream Balloon” had a much more defined concept, and feature a completely acoustic folk sound. The opener “Sense” became their biggest hit at the time, amassing over 32 million plays as of writing this article. 2016’s “Nonagon Infinity” was an infinite loop of blown-out, energetic punk, with each song flowing seamlessly into the next for a non-stop barrage on the ear. The record established many antics the band would become known for later on, like their creative use of two drum sets, a harmonica featured in almost every song and constant ad-libbed “woo!” and “yup!” from lead singer Stu Mackenzie.
2017 was a pivotal year for the group; originally when I planned to write this article I wanted to just cover their output in 2017, as King Gizzard would go on their most ambitious endeavor to date, releasing five original studio albums in one year. Announcing their plan in November of 2016, reactions were seemingly mixed. While diehard fans (or “gizzheads,” as they’ve affectionately named themselves), welcomed the idea, many listeners feared the quality of music to come out of such a daunting task.
2017 came and went, and the group managed to follow through with their promise, releasing five unique albums, still touring between releases. Genres covered included microtonal desert rock, sci-fi audiobook, laid-back jazz fusion (featuring fellow Aussie songwriter Mild High Club), complex progressive rock and an album of leftovers that didn’t quite make the cut. While quality and popularity definitely varied between records, many still praised the group for following through.
In the years following, the group continued to tour and release new music, playing with genres like thrash metal, boogie rock, synth-pop and hip-hop, just to name a few. In a strange case of nominative determinism, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are just as outlandish as the name they proudly brand themselves as. While this article hasn’t featured much death, drama or turbulence, hopefully, I’ve been able to pique the interests of a few of you out there to explore more music.