King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Fishing For Fishies

The King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard album production line continues. Here comes, “Fishing For Fishies”, album number 14 in 7 years, since the Australian septet started out in 2012. So far, they have gone almost everywhere imaginable, from heavy metal sludge to modal jazz. They even came up with five albums in 2017, no less.

So are they overly productive or just crazy, and are all those good enough to cut the mustard? Actually, yes is the answer to all these questions. No matter how overly productive Stu Mackenzie and the guys might seem, they are able to suss all the essence out of the musical genres they have covered so far and have done that with true understanding for whatever music is on the table at that moment.

What is it then this time around? If you need any advance clues, just look at some of the song titles on “Fishing For Fishies”, “Boogieman sam”, “Plastic Boogie”, “Cyboogie”. Yes, it is boogie time, three ways, no less. The first version is as seen through the eyes and ears of the 70s L.A. sound, Doobie Brothers (in both incarnations), Ned Doheny and the rest, as on the title track and “The Bird Song,” for example. The second is the Savoy Brown, Juicy Lucy (remember them?) and even traces of Status Quo like on “Boogieman Sam” and “The Cruel Millenial”. And the third is the boogie the way King Gizzard see it in the electronic age, as on the two closing tracks, “Acarine” and “Cyboogie”.

And yes, it works and still sounds like The King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, i.e., it sounds as good as anything these guys have done so far! The key lies in the fact that the guys have studied their work material meticulously and have treated it with care. No tracks that should bear the title of ‘mindless boogie’ around here.

The only question that remains, where will The King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard go from here, and will there be some genre on which they will slip up? Remains to be seen…