Album #322: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – K.G.

• Released: 2020
• Origin: Melbourne, Australia
• Label: KGLW (Self-released)
• Best Track: Honey

Along with Oh Sees (or Osees as they’re currently known), Australian psych-rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are probably the band who have most redefined the notion of being prolific. K.G. is their 16th studio album in a little over eight years, and is paired with a new live album released on the same day.

Needless to say, I’ve only listened to a fraction of this portfolio, but despite their productivity, nothing I’ve ever heard from them ever sounds rushed or of inferior quality.

K.G. maintains the high standards. I’d say maybe the rock element is toned down a bit here, replaced with more of the folk leanings of acts like Wolf People and Wooden Shjips.

Instantly, ‘Minimum Brain Size’ stands out for its catchiness and lyrics, while ‘Ontology’ is a fusion of energy and Indian-inspired sounds. I think the album peaks on its final two tracks though, with ‘Honey’ hypnotic and ‘The Hungry Wolf of Fate’ rounding off the record with a crunch.

In this headfuck of a year, it’s good to grab on to anything consistent, and another good album by King Gizz is a little late by their standard with it being November, but at least it dropped before the year was out.