The band’s proclivity to the latter is most evident on “The Cruel Millennial,” about a millennial who feels prematurely old and washed up. At its worst, culling sounds from the past can sound like paranoid, derivative vampirism. ![]() When done right, stacking an album with riffy guitar and proggy synthesizer can be compelling and enjoyable: Take the equally prolific Ty Segall, the decidedly less prolific Sheer Mag, or anything King Gizzard released prior to 2019. Throughout, Fishing for Fishies pulls generously from the pantheon of classic rock. “Yeah, yeah, boogie, boogie, boogie,” sings frontman Stuart Mackenzie, until your eyes roll into the back of your head. Built around two foot-stomping, Led Zeppelin-indebted drum parts and a grating harmonica line, the song is about a Slenderman-type figure who “ate mumma’s babies, and shot the policeman.” Eventually you begin to feel that perhaps you have heard enough tailgating rock’n’roll scuzz, but the harmonica refuses to quit. “Boogieman Sam,” one of three songs with the word “boogie” in the title, is equally banal. The title track is one such culprit: Taking up an “anti-fishing” agenda, King Gizz attempt to tackle conservationism, but a lazy Mellotron flute and seemingly endless swampy guitar make them sound like they’re auditioning to score a Shrek spin-off instead. Often the weirdest parts can be the most wonderful parts, but for a new fan it’s only worth diving into the pool of madness that is ‘Murder Of The Universe’ once you’re truly warmed up.Fans worship this band for more or less for legitimate reasons: They’ve written music in an infinite loop, released five albums in one year, played with two drum sets, and crafted lyrics that are both hilarious and fun to dissect. Released in the middle of the band’s jam-packed 2017 came ‘Murder Of The Universe’ – a three-part odyssey with a foreboding spoken-word introduction that provides a deep dive into the weirdest parts of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. That seems like a silly premise to enjoy music by to us, but it’s true that many King Gizzard albums do need repeat listens to fully bed in. It’s probably why they’ve garnered such a status as cult heroes, with the idea that you have to work to truly get it having become central to their appeal. We’ll be honest here: no King Gizzard album is a breeze. ![]() Pleasingly, the album is created as an infinite loop, with the end of final track ‘Road Train’ crashing straight back into the start of ‘Robot Stop’. Plus it’s loaded with ‘Robot Stop’ and ‘Gamma Knife’ – two of our essential tracks, you’ll remember. In its first half the album is a document of a psych-rock band operating at their peak, with weirdness and directness correlating wonderfully. ![]() Those records predictably saw the seven-piece exploring all potential avenues – the weirder the better – but it was on ‘Nonagon Infinity’ that their vision remained most clearly realised. It was the last album the band released before their crazed whirlwind of 2017, where they released five LPs in 12 months. There are a good few options for your first King Gizzard full-length – notable mentions go to the hit-packed ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ and the prog-heavy ‘Polygondwaland’ – but for a record that brings everything they do well together, 2016’s ‘Nonagon Infinity’ takes the biscuit.
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