Eco Amplifier: This Week, King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard
When it comes to music, artists often take their time to craft something they feel their audience will enjoy. For King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard, prolificacy is something that they are quite comfortable with achieving, and that certainly can be said about the band.
Having released 24 studio albums, 15 live albums, five compilations, three EPs, and a remix album since their founding in 2010, it can be said that the sextuplet of King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard is one of the most prolific music groups of this generation.
The band grew up and formed together in the Deniliquin, Melbourne, and Geelong areas of Australia and initially started as a jam band. Their name was actually a last-minute combination of two names suggested by the members, and thus the band was born.
It’s impossible to describe the band as anything other than themselves, as beyond being prolific in their output, they are also incredibly varied in their musical style.
Some have described King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard as psych-rock, but they have experimented with the sounds of stoner rock, sludge, heavy metal, thrash metal, acid rock, and indie rock, to name a few.
On one of their more unique releases, Flying Microtonal Banana, they experimented with microtonal music using custom guitars in 24 TET tuning inspired by Turkish music and Anatolian rock.
It would also be a disservice to the band not to talk about their social awareness and environmentalism, as these topics have consistently seeped their way into the fabric of their music.
King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard band member Stu Mackenzie, speaking to the Environmental Music Prize on their submission If Not Now Then When, said, “We need actual, real, tangible action from our leaders; otherwise, what are they there for? Why are we not doing everything we humanly can to right our wrongs? When we’re literally on fire, why not now? If not now, then when?”
However, they often phrase these things deeply in metaphor so as to avoid sounding too preachy, which is a tasteful touch.
They are constantly doing shows, so if you want to check out King Gizzard And The Wizard Lizard while they are in your city, you can find the link here. If you want to check out their latest release, you can also check that out here.
