BEST TRACKS: Real’s Not Real, This Thing
FCC violations: Plastic Boogie, The Cruel Millennial,
Feeling ants in your pants? Feeling like if you don’t get up and dance immediately that you’ll burst into a million colorful pieces of confetti? Not to worry, there are plenty of boogies to be had throughout this album.
This 7-member ensemble from Melbourne, Australia shows no fear of exploring different genres. Their first two albums 12 Bar Bruise and Eyes Like the Sky were energetic blends of surf and garage rock. Over the next six years, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards continued to expand their sound, releasing several albums that included psychedelic rock, soul, folk, jazz, and heavy mental themes. King Gizzard has something for everybody.
Fishing for Fishies, released in April of 2019, is King Gizzard’s 14th album, and is a bizarre culmination of unique talents and creativity. Fishing for Fishes was a highly anticipated album. After all, if the band could release 5 stunning albums in one year, who knew what would happen when they took a whole year off? Well, the result was a true gem that sounds a little like blues rock in the age of robot. The drums are crisp and tight. The vocals are heavily filtered and electronic. The guitar is fluid and upbeat yet maintains a beautifully forlorn bluegrass feel.
Several quirky messages are sprinkled into this album such as ‘don’t kill fish’ in the title track Fishing for Fishies and ‘we all have a false sense of reality because of corrupt media’ in the sixth track Real’s Not Real.
Though I think King Gizzard’s earlier surf and garage rock phase was their best era, I can tell the boys had tons of fun making this album.
Similar sounding artists are Aphrodite’s Child and Mahivishnu Orchestra. If you love Doctor Who or are empathetic to fish, then I recommend giving this album a spin.
-Safia Rizwan