King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard

[twosuitsluke]

Yea you’ll like it I reckon dude. The new one may be a bit Kraftwerk-esque I reckon.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

this one is gonna be krautrock-y i bet

[twosuitsluke]

I had my first experience of Gizz in the wild last night. I went to a local “Oktoberfest” at a nearby brewery with some friends. Two of these friends are ones I’ve managed to convert to the Gizz a little bit (well, enough to get them to come see them in London earlier in the year). Anyway, music was obviously playing all night and as it was starting to get quieter they played Sense.

No one else recognised the song but the two friends I was with are kind of obsessed with Rattlesnake so we went and asked the barman to play it (along with other general song requests). Took him a while but he did play it. It was kinda great to hear it out in the wild. Obviously the crowd went wild and there was a queue at the bar asking what the band were called

[PixelDream]

That’s awesome! Had a listen to Night 1 of my Red Rocks ‘22 boxset last night with a friend. We took a few hits from a vaporizer for the occasion. Also we watched the video for Iron Lung which is absolutely bonkers.

[Metro]

I once heard Shanghai playing at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. That was awesome.

[twosuitsluke]

Three song/video premiere coming this time tomorrow…

https://reddit.com/r/KGATLW/s/dQumC2Q3uA

Theia/The Silver Cord/Set

[twosuitsluke]

https://youtu.be/3jnsD-fEHdY?si=TgL1mA5ZN_uGfkF5

New video premiering in a few minutes

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

holy shit the new songs are SO GOOD

[hefdaddy42]

I love that they put out so much material, but like, guys, maybe take a vacation or something.

[PixelDream]

That was pretty damn weird alright, even for them. After one listen I don’t know if I’m going to like/love it, but I’m definitely intrigued.

[twosuitsluke]

holy shit the new songs are SO GOOD

After 4 listens I’m tending to agree with you.

I love that they put out so much material, but like, guys, maybe take a vacation or something.

Stu is one of the super prolific, workaholic, always got a new idea types. He’s kinda like Devin Townsend in that respect, although he’s managed to surround himself with similar minded musicians and it’s the fucking perfect storm! I think Stu is less of a control freak and perfectionist than Devy is (and I don’t mean that negatively), and much like Dev he can produce and mix all their music. Thinking of Devin Townsend, I’d love to get those two in a room together for an interview.

That was pretty damn weird alright, even for them. After one listen I don’t know if I’m going to like/love it, but I’m definitely intrigued.

Nothing surprises me anymore, and as I saw someone on Reddit say, their fans are not known as the ‘normie swarm’ so yea. I’m always intrigued and can always find something to enjoy in every damn thing they release.

[PixelDream]

2nd listen was already much better. It’s still very Gizz but full on electronic. Parts remind me of Shpongle. Looking forward to this one.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

the fun thing to consider is this likely means the next wave of touring will feature a more keyboard/synth oriented rig for more of the boys, which means not only will they play these new songs but we'll probably get some unplayed or rarely played cuts from butterfly 3000, changes, and some other more off the beaten path gizz music

[twosuitsluke]

Cyboogie ❤️

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Cyboogie ❤️

AND ACARINE!!!!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Funny that track comes up....

Ok, so I just listened to the first 32 songs (the first third) on this playlist over the last few days. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FMmAVVl3bc58AVsrFksFj?si=Rid4eS5XQgqYQPD_8Ifzbw&nd=1

Luke has already heard versions of a few of these thoughts because they're in my writeup for the song he sent in my roulette, but here are some overall impressions.  Prior to this I've heard probably 5-10 different songs of theirs over the last year or so.  "Dragon" was the one I liked the most of those, "Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe" the least.    "Dragon" is a bit more repetitive than I'd like, but it has some more interesting riffs and groove than the others. 

*I suspected they had a fair amount of variety, and I was definitely right.  I'm sure fans of theirs can see more throughlines, but it feels like a totally different band at times depending upon the song. 

*There is a pretty persistent retro/garage/lo-fi vibe to quite a few of the songs.  This is not generally an aesthetic I go for, with the occasional exception. 

*I'm probably a bit more drawn to vocal-driven songs than a lot of people here, and they don't really seem to be about that.  The vocals are more of just another instrument, and often kind of just "there". 

*They often have this psychedelic, jammy feel, even in shorter songs.  It's a concept that for me is often more interesting on paper, and I don't often feel it's actualized as well as I'd ideally like. 

*Generally I like my weirdness to come in smaller doses, and they seem to prefer larger doses of it.  Generally it's not enough to make me overtly dislike them, but it's distracting as often as it is engrossing. 

*All that said, they still intrigue me, and seem to have things going you're probably not going to hear anywhere else, so I'm sure I will listen to the remaining 2/3 and probably some albums at some point (probably the current one and maybe the more electronic-oriented ones first). 

*Standout songs so far are "Acarine", "Shanghai", "Mycelium", and "O.N.E.". 

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

*There is a pretty persistent retro/garage/lo-fi vibe to quite a few of the songs.  This is not generally an aesthetic I go for, with the occasional exception. 

great observation! i would say they definitely started as a DIY/garage band. you can hear it in their first 3-4 albums for sure and even to this day there are strong DIY strands running in their music. great ear!

[PixelDream]

This band marked my return to overall happier music and also introduced the garage/lofi aesthetic to my taste. Now that they’ve made a prog metal masterpiece in PetroDragonic Apocalypse it’s come full circle for me.

[twosuitsluke]

Nice thoughts Litho, I’m glad you’re dipping your toe in the muddy water.

I’ll address some of your points…

I personally love all their different styles, genres and sounds. It makes each release so exciting as we really don’t know what we’re gonna get. On top of that, if you’re not super into their current release, a new is likely coming within 6 months. Through it all though, I feel the band always sound like Gizz. Whether it’s synth Gizz, prog Gizz or metal Gizz, it always has a distinct sound to it (at least to me).

I agree about the vocals just kinda “being there” at times. There are exceptions but generally I think the weak link for the band is the vocals. Most vocal duties fall to Stu, with Ambrose being the other semi lead vocalist. A few of the other members song the odd song, but it’s definitely the least impressive part of their sound for me. Stu dines so much other stuff that I can forgive him for not focusing so much on his vocals.

Interesting point about the jam side of the band. Once you’re a bit more familiar with the band you could deep dive into their live bootlegs (which are now all on Spotify), and hear how they jam out these songs live. You’re one step closer to just seeing them live then too.

On the weirdness, the fandom isn’t called the ‘weirdo swarm’ for nothing. Embrace it if GTFO

Glad you are intrigued because that’s a big part of what enticed me in. I feel they are a really unique band and their approach to the modern day music industry cannot be underestimated. In the current climate where bands are struggling to make a living, these guys are absolutely killing it and selling out all over the place and huge in the vinyl market.

Lastly, nice to hear the standout songs you’re digging. I’m not too into O.N.E personally (I think KG and LW are two of their weaker albums) but the other three are also favourites of mine.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

i agree that KG and LW on are the weaker end of the spectrum of gizz

[PixelDream]

K.G. and L.W. are the albums that turned me into a massive fanboy actually. I really love their microtonal stuff and this is probably a hot take, but I think the microtonal songs are much more interesting on those albums than on Flying Microtonal Banana.

[twosuitsluke]

To be honest, I don’t think there’s even such a thing as a hot take with Gizz. Their output is so varied that there isn’t really any consensus on which albums are generally preferred or not by the fanbase. Every album is loved by some and (not disliked as such) less liked by others.

KG and LW haven’t clicked with me, but if experience is anything to go by, they could be in my top 10 in a year

[twosuitsluke]

Here you go Litho, this one is for you...

https://youtu.be/VXbdF8zk1_U?feature=shared

It's an epic orchestral cover of Murder of the Universe (just the song, not the full album). Now I just want a full orchestral arrangement of the whole album though!

Anyway, in other news, new album out Friday, everyone psyched? As they are releasing the album as the normal album version (which I think is only 28 minutes long) and the extended version (88 minutes long), how is everyone intending to listen?

I'll do the normal version once, maybe twice as its so short, before diving into the extended version. Looking forward to it!

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

i cannot wait for friday

[twosuitsluke]

i cannot wait for friday

I cannot state how much I agree with this.

[Metro]

SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET

[twosuitsluke]

Waiting for Friday to hit...

[Willthescout7]

I'm going to pick up both probably. Normally I would just get 1, but with such a massive difference in album lengths it likely will feel like 2 entirely different albums

[twosuitsluke]

I read a cool review about how a lot of The Silver Cord mirrors PetroDragonic. With that in mind I might go standard The Silver Cord > PetroDragonic > extended The Silver Cord.

[Art]

Can't wait for Friday. I think I'm going to go with the extended version mostly.

[twosuitsluke]

https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/the-silver-cord


LITERALLY just gone live on Bandcamp, let's fucking GO!

[Art]

Diving now on the extended versions. This is so sick

[Metro]

SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET

[twosuitsluke]

SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET
SLAY THE MIGHTY SET

Dude, your avatar is perfection.

[Bentower]

This thing rules!

Not crazy about the rap verses in Set nor the obnoxiously loud hi-hat bit in its extension, but they go by fast. Otherwise, it's all very blissful.