{{Infobox musical artist
| name = King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
| alias =
| background = group_or_band
| image = King Gizzard 2019.jpg
| landscape = yes
| caption = King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard performing in New York City, 2019
| origin = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's logo as it appears on their website
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria though they have since ceased local shows as of 2023 to make more money in America.[1][2] The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood, and Michael Cavanagh. They are known for exploring multiple genres, staging energetic live shows, and building a prolific discography.
In 2017, the band fulfilled a promise to release five studio albums within the year, and also marked the beginning of a trilogy of microtonal albums with Flying Microtonal Banana. Subsequent releases integrated heavy metal, synth-pop and progressive rock, and feature lyrics that address environmental themes and a connected fictional universe termed the "Gizzverse" by fans. Eric Moore, the second drummer and manager, left in 2020. Since 2019, the band has produced several albums per year, including releasing five in 2022 with three of the releases in that October. Their 26th and most recent album, Flight b741, was released in 2024.
History
2010–2012: Formation, early releases, and 12 Bar Bruise
The band members all grew up and went to school in the Deniliquin, Melbourne, and Geelong areas of Australia. Mackenzie, Moore, and Walker met studying the music industry at RMIT University,[5] and the other members were mutual friends. The band started off with a fluid lineup of members, but the lineup eventually became Mackenzie, Walker, Moore, Kenny-Smith, Cavanagh, Craig, and Harwood. Kenny-Smith was the last to enter the band in 2011.[6] Mackenzie stated he was not sure where the band's name came from.[7] Melbourne artist Jason Galea has created all of the band's album art and the majority of their music videos.[8]
The band's first releases were two singles in 2010, both self-released: "Sleep / Summer!" and "Hey There / Ants & Bats". The band's next release, 2011's Anglesea (named after Anglesea, Victoria, Mackenzie's home town), was released as a four-track EP on CD. These releases did not become available digitally until the Teenage Gizzard compilation in 2020.[citation needed]Willoughby's Beach was released by Shock Records on 21 October.[9]Beat Magazine described the nine-track garage rock EP as "filled to the teeth with consistently killer hooks".[10]
The band's first full-length album, 12 Bar Bruise, was released on 7 September 2012.[11] The 12-track garage rock album was self-recorded, and several tracks used unconventional recording methods; for example, the vocals for the album's title track were recorded through four iPhones placed around a room while Mackenzie sang into one of them.[12]
2013–2014: Eyes Like the Sky, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, Oddments, and I'm in Your Mind Fuzz
The band's second full-length album, Eyes Like the Sky, was released on 22 February 2013.[13] Described as a "cult western audio book",[13] the album is narrated by Broderick Smith and tells the story of outlaws, Native Americans, and other figures of the American frontier. It was written collaboratively by Smith and Stu Mackenzie. Mackenzie said the album was inspired by Western films and Red Dead Redemption, among other things,[14] and was written as a response to being typecast in their previous releases.[citation needed]
The band's third full-length album, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, was released on 27 September.[15] King Gizzard shifted from garage rock to a more mellow folk and psychedelic sound on the eight-track album.[16] It also saw Eric Moore start playing drums after previously playing theremin and keyboards.[17]
Float Along – Fill Your Lungs was followed by Oddments, released on 7 March 2014.[18] Over the course of the 12-track album, the band takes a more melodic approach, and Mackenzie's vocals are more prominent.[19] The album's mixing style led to it being described as "recorded through a woollen sock in an adjacent room".[20]
The band's fifth full-length album, I'm in Your Mind Fuzz, was released on 31 October.[21] The 10-track album touches on elements of fantasy,[22] and lyrically delves into the concept of mind control. This was the first time the band took a "traditional" approach to writing and recording an album: the songs were written, the band rehearsed together, and they recorded the songs "as a band" in the studio.[23]Pitchfork described the album as "open[ing] with a sprint" and ending "with some of their best slow jams".[24] In 2019, the album came at #6 on Happy Mag's list of "the 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".[25]
2015–2016: Quarters!, Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, Gizzfest, and Nonagon Infinity
Mackenzie performing in 2016
2015 saw the band launch Gizzfest in Melbourne, a two-day music festival that was held annually and toured Australia, featuring both local and international acts.[26]
Quarters!, King Gizzard's sixth full-length album, was released on 1 May 2015.[27] The album features four songs, each running for 10 minutes and 10 seconds,[28] making each song a quarter of the album. Drawing upon jazz fusion and acid rock, the album's more laid-back sound was described as "unlike anything they've released before" by Tonedeaf magazine.[29]
On 17 August, King Gizzard released the title track "Paper Mâché Dream Balloon" as the lead single for the album with the same name.[30] The second single, "Trapdoor", had a music video released on 10 November.[31] On 13 November, the band released its seventh full-length album, Paper Mâché Dream Balloon.[32][33] It features only acoustic instruments and was recorded on Mackenzie's parents' farm in rural Victoria.[33] The album features "a collection of short, unrelated songs"[33] described as "mellow, defuzzed psychedelia".[34] It was the band's first album to be released in the United States via ATO Records.[35]
The band's eighth full-length album, Nonagon Infinity, was released worldwide on 29 April 2016.[36] Described by Mackenzie as a "never-ending album", it features nine songs connected by musical motifs that flow "seamlessly" into each other, with the last track "linking straight back into the top of the opener".[37] On 8 March, the band released a video for the first single, "Gamma Knife".[38] The song "People Vultures" was released on 4 April,[39] and its music video on 6 May.[40] The album received high praise from critics, with Pitchfork's Stuart Berman writing that it "yields some of the most outrageous, exhilarating rock 'n' roll in recent memory".[41]Happy Mag's Maddy Brown described it as "an intensely striking, ferocious sound that gets the blood flowing and heart racing".[42] The band earned its first ARIA Award when Nonagon Infinity won the 2016 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.
2017: Five albums in one year
We had this random batch of songs. It was not a cohesive record at all. So we thought we'd split it up and split again until it became five. We worked on Nonagon Infinity pretty intensely in 2015 and 2016. We came close to burning ourselves out, or at least wringing each other's necks. We took a break, and then all these random, disparate song ideas came out of that void of not recording for a little while. Then we worked on everything, one album at a time.
The band's ninth full-length album, Flying Microtonal Banana, was recorded in the band's own studio[44] and released on 24 February 2017.[45] The album was recorded using custom instruments adhering to 24 TET. It was described as "a soaring take on microtonal music" by Guitar World.[46] Three tracks were issued in advance: "Rattlesnake" (the opening track) in October 2016, "Nuclear Fusion" in December, and "Sleep Drifter" in January 2017.[47][48][49] The music video for "Rattlesnake", directed by Jason Galea,[50] was described by Happy Mag's Luke Saunders as "a masterclass in hypnotism".[51]
Another full-length album, Murder of the Universe, was released on 23 June.[52] It is a concept album divided into three chapters: The Tale of the Altered Beast and The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog (released on 30 May), and Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe (11 April). Spill Magazine explained that the album "describes the impeding doom of the world in a dark fantasy genre kind of way".[53][54][55] It is narrated by Leah Senior[56] for the first two chapters, and a text-to-speech program for the final chapter. The band made their international television debut on 17 April, performing "The Lord of Lightning" on Conan on TBS in the United States.[57]
The album Sketches of Brunswick East was released on 18 August. It is a collaboration with Alex Brettin's psychedelic jazz project, Mild High Club.[58] Taking inspiration from Miles Davis' 1960 album Sketches of Spain, as well as the band's base recording location of Brunswick East in Melbourne, it is a jazz improvisational album. Mackenzie described the record as relating to the constant changes in their neighborhood, and trying to finding beauty in the location.[58]
Polygondwanaland, the fourth of the band's five 2017 albums, was released into the public domain, inspiring many independent labels throughout the world to issue unique versions of it.
The album Polygondwanaland was released as a free download on 17 November. The band encouraged fans and independent record labels to create their own pressings of the album, stating that it was "free to download and if you wish, free to make copies".[59] The first track "Crumbling Castle", was released on 18 October. A music video created by Jason Galea accompanied its release on YouTube.[60] As of August 2023, 363 different versions of the album have been recorded on the physical music database Discogs,[61] and it has been called "the ultimate vinyl release" by Louder than Sound.[62]
In December, the band announced a new album, and two singles were released digitally: "All Is Known", which had previously been performed live, and "Beginner's Luck", an entirely new song.[63][64] These singles were followed by two more: "The Last Oasis" and "Greenhouse Heat Death" on the 20th. Gumboot Soup was released on 31 December.[65] Mackenzie explained in an interview that the songs on the album were songs that didn't work in, or came after, the other 2017 records, but that they were not b-sides.[66]
In December, Consequence of Sound named King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Band of the Year, praising both the quantity and quality of their releases that year.[66]
2018–2019: Fishing for Fishies, Infest the Rats' Nest, and reissues
Throughout 2018, King Gizzard continued to perform live shows, but did not release any new material. Instead, they re-released five older records—Willoughby's Beach, 12 Bar Bruise, Eyes Like the Sky, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, and Oddments—on CD and vinyl.[67] They also released an official pressing of Polygondwanaland.[68] The 2019 Gizzfest did not take place. After the Gizzfest event in 2018, the band announced the cancellation of the festival on their official Instagram page. Some fans believe this was due to their extensive touring schedule.[69]
In January 2019, the band announced that new music was in the works.[70] On 1 February, they released a new single, "Cyboogie", as a 7-inch single backed with "Acarine".[71] A week later they announced another North American tour,[72] as well as a show at Alexandra Palace in London, which they stated would be their "biggest show ever".[73]
In March, the band announced the album Fishing for Fishies, with a release date of 26 April.[74] A day later, the band officially released a music video for the title track on YouTube.[75] Later that month, the band released another single from the album, "Boogieman Sam",[76] and on 24 April, the band dropped a final single, "The Bird Song". Two days later, the album was released.[77]
On 9 April, the band released a music video for their new song, "Planet B".[78] On the 30th, Mackenzie confirmed that the band's next album (featuring "Planet B") was in the works, and had no release date yet. The album was later revealed to be titled Infest the Rats' Nest. Mackenzie also announced that Gizzfest would be held outside of Australia for the first time that year.[79]Infest the Rats' Nest, which was released on 16 August, featured an entirely different style – thrash metal.[80][81] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, it was nominated for the Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.[82]
2020: Chunky Shrapnel, K.G., L.W. and Eric Moore's departure
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band postponed their Greek Theatre and Red Rocks three-hour marathon shows for later in the year. The band had also produced a film to be released, titled Chunky Shrapnel; however, also due to the outbreak, the initial viewing was postponed for a later date, and then cancelled. It was directed by John Angus Stewart, and recorded during the band's 2019 tour in Europe.[84] A live album of the same name was released on 24 April, featuring recordings from numerous shows on the tour along with three ambient studio tracks. The opening track "Evil Star" also features on the live albums released earlier in January.[85]
In April, the band stated that during the COVID-19 lockdown, they had worked on new material for upcoming albums. Mackenzie reported that one will be "chill", another "kind of jazzy", and some of it microtonal. The band was also experimenting with electronic music and polymetres.[86] When asked about more live recordings, Mackenzie said that the band had recorded almost every show they played in 2019, and may release them in a similar fashion to Pearl Jam's official live bootlegs.[86] June saw the release of RATTY, a short documentary about the making of Infest the Rat's Nest.[87] It was made available to rent online with all proceeds going to charities benefiting Aboriginal Australians. After $20,000 had been raised, it was then made free to watch on YouTube. Later that month, in celebration of Love Record Store Day, the band released a limited print of eco-friendly versions of 10 previous releases.[88]
Moore left the band in 2020 to focus on running the Flightless record label.
Again due to the pandemic, the band postponed the marathon shows and North American tour for a second time, with the new dates being for October 2021. However, they confirmed new tour dates, and that they band would release some new albums before said tour.[89] On 25 August, Eric Moore announced his departure from the band (as both an active member and the band's manager) without citing any direct reason,[90] though the band explained that he was stepping away from the band "to focus solely on Flightless Records".[91]
On 2 October, the band released two albums via Bandcamp. The first, Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2, includes 28 demos of songs spanning the band's entire career. The second was a live album, Live in Asheville '19 (recorded at New Belgium Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina, on 1 September 2019).
On 20 October, the band teased the release of their 16th studio album, K.G. (Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 2), and another live album, Live in San Francisco '16. Both were released on 20 November, alongside the fourth single from K.G., "Automation", which was for free on their website. In addition to the raw audio files for the song as a whole, the band also included the files for the separate stems within the song.[92] They also released the video files for its music video, and asked fans to create their own video with them.[93] All of these files require a torrent client to be installed on the user's device.[94][95]
On 24 December, the band released their seventh live album, Live in London '19, on Bandcamp.[96] Performed at the 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace on 5 October 2019, it was the group's largest show to date.[73][97]
In an interview with NME, Joey Walker said that 2021 would be a big year of output with some of their most divisive music yet, claiming: "Part of me thinks this is the best we've ever done. And part of me thinks it's the worst." He also talked about making a sequel to Chunky Shrapnel.[98] In 2020, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard were listed at No. 47 in Rolling Stone Australia's list of the "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time".[99]
The album L.W. (Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 3), was released on 26 February. It is "both a standalone work and a companion piece to" K.G.[100] On 19 March, the band released Live in Melbourne '21, recorded from one of their first shows since the pandemic. It also was released as bootleg files.[101]
2021–2022: Butterfly 3000, Omnium Gatherum, and Gizztober
The album Butterfly 3000, was announced on 11 May, saying it would release on 11 June without promotion by singles.[102] On 29 May, Live in Sydney '21 was released through the band's bootleg program,[103] along with a video recording of the concert. They announced five concerts at Sydney's Carriageworks, which would have different, pre-planned setlists themed around a different style of music.[104]Butterfly 3000 received generally positive reviews;[105] reviewers commending the album on its "sonic adventurism"[106] and "pop-oriented additions [that] are a perfect pairing to their existing sound",[107] while another said its "formulaic approach lacks surprise".[105] The album had 10 tracks, and was built around modular synthesizer loops. The album art by Jason Galea featured a "cross-eyed" autostereogram.[108] The remix album Butterfly 3001 was released on 21 January, featuring 21 remixes of Butterfly 3000's songs; a music video was released for DJ Shadow's remix of "Black Hot Soup".[109][110]
In February, the band announced a three-hour marathon set in Melbourne on 5 March, named Return of the Curse of Timeland.[111] It coincided with the release of the album Made in Timeland.[112] On 8 March, they released the 18-minute track "The Dripping Tap" as a single from the album Omnium Gatherum, released on 22 April.[113][114] On 15 March, they released a joint EP alongside Tropical Fuck Storm titled Satanic Slumber Party. The EP originated during the recording sessions for Fishing for Fishies, during which the two groups collaborated on a jam section titled "Hat Jam". Sections of both "The Dripping Tap" and "Satanic Slumber Party" were adapted from these sessions, and a special limited-edition 12" vinyl, Hat Jam, contained both releases.[115]
In June, the band won the inaugural Environmental Music Prize with their 2020 single "If Not Now, Then When?" They were awarded $20,000 in prize money, the entirety of which was donated to The Wilderness Society.[116] In July, they released two additional volumes of demos for their bootlegger program, titled Music to Eat Pond Scum To and Music To Die To. They also shared info about their next two albums, stating that they were "built from hours-long jams and then pieced together after the fact".[117] In August, they cancelled the remaining 13 dates of their summer European tour so Stu Mackenzie could return to Australia for treatment in his battle with Crohn's disease.[118]
On 1 September, the band announced that they planned to release three studio albums in October 2022.[119] A music video for one of their new songs, "Ice V", premiered on the 7th, alongside the reveal of the titles, cover artwork, and release dates for the albums. They all released in October: Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava on the 7th, Laminated Denim on the 12th, and Changes on the 28th.[120] Fans labeled the month "Gizztober".[121][122]
2023: PetroDragonic Apocalypse and The Silver Cord
King Gizzard playing at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, June 2023
On 24 January, the band released the official live bootleg Live At Red Rocks '22. The 86-track, eight-hour release documents the band's three-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Several independent labels have created physical releases of the bootleg, including vinyl, CD, and cassette runs.[123] In February, the band announced that they would no longer be performing at that year's Byron Bay Bluesfest in protest of the festival's booking of indie band Sticky Fingers; King Gizzard said Sticky Fingers represented "misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence".[124]
In May, the band announced the album PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation[125][126] Lucas Harwood said the album would be one of two upcoming releases exploring a "Yin and Yang" concept. They would sound much different from each other, but complement each other.[127] The album's first single, "Gila Monster", was released alongside a music video on 16 May, and the second single, "Dragon", was released on 6 June with its music video. The band then went on tour throughout the United States to promote the album. PetroDragonic Apocalypse was released on 16 June.[128][129]
In July, the band confirmed that they had been uploading albums from their bootlegger program onto streaming services under the name "bootleg gizzard".[130] In September, they announced a series of marathon tours in the U.S. for 2024, and said that the album accompanying PetroDragonic Apocalypse is "synth-y".[131]
In September, they announced The Silver Cord.[132] Three singles ("Theia", "The Silver Cord", and "Set"), and a music video released on 3 October.[133] The album was released on 27 October.[134]
2024–present: p(doom), Flight b741, and Phantom Island
Ambrose Kenny-Smith crowd-surfing while singing Billabong Valley while on tour at Forrest Hills on 18 August 2024.
From 14 March to 21 November 2024, the band would go on the World Tour 2024 in support of the new album The Silver Cord, consisting of four legs; 14–23 March in South America, 15 May to 4 June in Europe, 15 August to 14 September in the United States and Canada, and 1–21 November in the United States. The tour consisted of 64 shows overall.[135][136][137] Each show in the United States and Canada was recorded, live-streamed, and released into the Public Domain for bootleggers to freely download.[138]
On 6 May, the band announced the creation of their new record label, p(doom).[139] The first album released on p(doom) was a collaboration between Ambrose and Jay Watson from Tame Impala named III Times, which was announced on 7 May and released on 19 July.[140][139]
On 9 August, the band released Flight b741, their 26th studio album and their first released on the p(doom) label.[142] Every song from the album had its live debut throughout the second half of the 2024 tour.[137][143]
On 18 October, Cook Craig released his fifth solo album Pipe-Defy under the p(doom) label.[144]
On 29 October, the band released a single titled Phantom Island and announced it would be part of their 27th studio album, comprising 10 additional songs written at the same time as those on Flight b741, but with an orchestral section added.[145] Additionally, they announced they would be going on a tour comprised of 4 Rock N' Roll shows and 7 shows with a different 28 piece orchestra in each city.[145] The tour will conclude with a three-day camping residency dubbed the Field of Vision.[145]
On 22 November, the day after the world tour ended, Lucas Harwood's second band, Heavy Moss, released its debut album Dead Slow under the p(doom) label.[146]
Unusual in Western rock music, starting in 2017 with album Flying Microtonal Banana, the band have experimented with microtonal music using custom built guitars in 24 TET tuning, as well as several other modified instruments.[46][162] This was inspired by Middle Eastern and Turkish music, including Anatolian rock, and their customised guitars were modelled off the bağlama.[46][163][164] Mackenzie described it as "kind of a Dorian mode with a half flat sixth and a half flat second, because that was the way my baglama was fretted".[46] After Flying Microtonal Banana, the band went on to create two more albums utilising this scale – K.G. and L.W. – while also utilising it in other one-off songs.[165] Many of the band's songs feature unusual time signatures, such as 7/8 and 5/4, and frequent time signature changes.[166][167] Their albums Polygondwanaland and Butterfly 3000 feature polyrhythms and polymeters.[168][169]
The Gizzverse
Many of the band's releases are based on a unique concept yet share lyrical themes and feature characters that form a recurring cast, one of the most frequent being Han-Tyumi, a "confused cyborg" who appears across multiple albums and whose name, according to cultural theorist Benjamin Kirbach, represents "a vaguely nipponized anagram of 'humanity'".[170] Their songs also tell stories of "gamblers, cowboys, Australian Rules footballers, people-vultures, Balrogs, lightning gods, flesh-eating beasts, sages and space-faring eco rebels".[171] Members of r/KGATLW, a subreddit dedicated to the band, popularised the term "Gizzverse" to describe the overarching narrative of their discography, about which many theories have been propagated. In a 2017 interview, Stu Mackenzie confirmed that the band's releases are all connected, saying, "They all exist in this parallel universe and they may be from different times and different places but they all can co-exist in a meaningful way". In the same interview, drummer Eric Moore joked that even prior to the band's formation, they decided how the story will end.[172]
The band's lyrics often feature environmental themes,[164] meditating on topics have such as the collapse of civilisation and climate change,[164] particularly on the albums Infest the Rats' Nest,[173]Flying Microtonal Banana, Fishing for Fishies,[167][174]K.G. and L.W..[175] Mackenzie has said: "We've got a lot of things to fear... I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of humanity and the future of Planet Earth. Naturally these thoughts seep into the lyrics".[173] Kirbach writes further that King Gizzard is:
nothing if not an apocalyptic band. Having released [twenty-six] studio albums to date since 2010, their frenzied pace evokes less LSD-inspired free love perhaps than Adderall-infused twenty-first-century despair. Their pervasive themes of climate change and the ills of technology position them as a band truly at the end of the world. And they are often as prophetic as they are prolific. Indeed, their thrash metalsci-fi epic Infest the Rats' Nest includes a song about a global pandemic which sparks a working-class revolution (the album was released in 2019, a scant six months before COVID). Yet the tension between human and technology in King Gizzard’s œuvre is rarely presented as a clichéd Fall of Man, as if romanticizing some idyllic pre-technological past. The relationship is instead portrayed as cyclic and reciprocal.[176]
The band's lyrical themes also address political and social issues, with Walker saying: "We try not to be too didactic in how we go about it, though there probably are times where it [could] be. We try to bury it in metaphor and other shit". "Minimum Brain Size" on K.G. was written following the Christchurch mosque shootings.[164]
Early in the band's life in 2012, manager Eric Moore made an independent record label named Flightless to release the band's music after failing to secure a contract with a mainstream label.[177] In 2018, Flightless formed a distribution partnership with ATO Records.[177] The following year, the label opened Flightless 168, a public record store located on Lygon Street in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick East.[178] Flightless also signed the Murlocs, Stonefield, Orb, The Babe Rainbow, Tropical Fuck Storm and Amyl and the Sniffers to their label.[179] After Moore left the band in 2020 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard pulled out of Flightless, along with most other acts.[180][181] The first fifteen albums by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, alongside L.W. where released under the flightless label.[182]
KGLW
After departing from Flightless King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard would independently release their music under the KGLW label.[181] KGLW would be limited to just King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard content, with all albums from K.G. to The Silver Cord, with the exception of L.W., released under the label.[183]
Early in 2024 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard merged their online merch store, Gizzverse.com, and KGLW into a new record label named p(doom) in reference to the artificial intelligence concept P(doom). Shortly after its creation the band announced that unlike KGLW, p(doom) will also release other bands' music.[184]
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