Recently, the band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard has been living rent free in my mind and there’s nothing I can do about it. So, naturally, I’m writing an article about them. My beloved coworker Jina and her longtime boyfriend Jared have shared music recommendations and have talked with me about mutual favorites during our shifts. A little while ago, Jina told me her favorite band is King Gizzard, and I said “no way I love them too”, and a discussion brewed. I’ve recently been pondering how they aren´t more popular, given they sound like something I’ve never heard before. My love for King Gizzard obviously stems from their uniqueness, so today we’re going to explore why King Gizzard is your new favorite band.

What On Earth is a “King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard”?

A very valid question, and boy, do I have a thorough response. King Gizzard is described as a rock band, but that’s a complete understatement. To me, they sound like the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and the Glass Animals’ love child. The ensemble includes Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith (such a wizard esque name), Joey Walker, Cook Craig, Lucas Harwood, and Michael Cavanagh, and they’ve been together since 2010. King Gizzard isn’t necessarily “new” to the music industry, but they’ve created 19 albums (soon to be 20…), producing almost 2 albums each year. Compared to some artists (cough cough, Frank Ocean), King Gizzard has a very impressive and lengthy discography. But some of you lovely readers may be wondering, “So many albums? Are they crazy, on drugs, or is their music just horrible?”, and to that I say, no, probably not. They are an experience in their own way; psychedelic rock. The psychedelic rock genre is one of my favorites because of its diversity. From Tame Impala to Pink Floyd, psych rock varies, and that’s why I don’t mind King Gizzard’s extensive discography.

Discography…

So, Obviously I’m not about to sit here and rank an album, or god forbid all of their albums…who has the time for that. Not I, I assure you. With that, I’m here to show you my favorites off of each album with little to no explanation. I’ve got to keep you guys on your toes. And this way you might actually listen to one of the songs.

Teenage Gizzard (2011)

• Summer!

Self Explanatory.

Willoughby’s Beach (2011)

• Black Tooth

To headbang or to scream; that is the question.

12 Bar Bruise (2012)

• Sea of Trees

Eyes Like the Sky (with Broderick Smith, 2013)

• Eyes Like The Sky

One of my favorites, if not my favorite.

Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013)

• I’m Not a Man Unless I Have A Woman 

Think: That 70s Show

Oddments (2014)

• Stressin’/Work This Time

Grateful Dead knockoff/Their most listened to song.

I’m In Your Mind Fuzz (2014)

• Empty

If the voices of Billie Joe Armstrong and Jon Bon Jovi had a baby.

Quarters! (2015)

• The River

Reminds me of the song playing in the background of the scene in Ratatouille when Remy was cooking and Linguini caught him. Yeah.

Paper Mache Dream Balloon (2015)

• A tie between “Time = Fate” and “Time = $$$”

Pink Floyd knockoff duh. I’m kidding, these sound nothing like “Time” and “Money”.

Nonagon Infinity (2016)

• People-Vultures

Sounds like a song that would be the hardest to play on Guitar Hero.

Flying Microtonal Banana (2017)

• Sleep Drifter

Now this one, I actually can’t describe. One of my favorites though.

Murder of the Universe (2017)

• This one’s hard because the songs flow as if it’s one super SUPER long album, but Lord of Lightning

The guitar at 34 seconds sounds like Immigrant Song.

Sketches of Brunswick East (with Mild High Club, 2017)

• Rolling Stoned 

Think: Elevator music.

Polygondwanaland (2017)

• Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet

Fancy tamborine, man! The vocals are so soft that it kind of sounds like if Simon & Garfunkel made a rock song.

Gumboot Soup (2017)

• The Great Chain of Being

Banger.

Fishing for Fishies (2019, my favorite KG album!!)

• The Cruel Millennial

Grateful Dead/Pink Floyd knockoff pt. 2

Infest the Rat’s Nest (2019)

• Mars For The Rich

Rock n roll, baby.

KG (2020)

• Honey

Definitely in my top 5 favorite KG songs.

Of course, this was not an easy feat, but alas, I have finished listening to every album in order to make sure I found my absolute favorite. I would NEVER recommend bad songs to you guys. EVER! 

Conclusion

Although some of their songs may not have lyrics, their music rocks my world. Sometimes, you just need to marinate in some good instrumentals! Ain’t nothing wrong with that! 

King Gizzard deserves more love for their work. Even if they were what-is-going-on-is-this-what-an-aneurysm-feels-like?-or-are-my-ears-bleeding-from-this-absolute-cacophony horrible, it’s still impressive to pump out new music so often, and in this case, they release around 2 per year. And I have yet to hear a bad Gizzard song. 

If you aren’t convinced that I know what I’m talking about,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntbNRUycbD4 

click the link to watch their latest music video for their new single ¨If Not Now, Then When?¨

I think this video sums the band up pretty darn well.