King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are a band who are hard to categorise. If you were to visit their Wikipedia page right now, you’ll see a total of 10 different genres listed for them. However, the majority of their music can be simply defined as ‘psychedelic rock’, a genre full of experimentation and creativity.
From their foray into acoustic instruments with Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, to their last album, the masterful Nonagon Infinity, the group are not afraid to experiment and try new things. In fact, their new album Flying Microtonal Banana is apparently all about experimentation.
When King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced their new record last year, they released a statement in which their drummer, Eric Moore, spoke about how they were making their own instruments and experimenting with the usage of ‘microtonal tunings’. For those who aren’t well versed in musical theory, microtones make use of a smaller than average distance between regular musical notes, which means, put simply, the group have managed to work with a far greater variety of sounds than they could use otherwise with traditional Western instruments.
Alongside that statement, the group released the album’s first single, ’Rattlesnake’, which whetted the appetite of every one of the band’s fans who had been hanging out for new tunes. The video also clued us in to the fact that the album’s titular ‘flying microtonal banana’ is actually the nickname given to the modified electric guitar frontman and guitarist Stu Mackenzie uses on the album, which is, of course, painted banana yellow.
The album’s preview single ‘Rattlesnake’ sees the band continue their unstoppably brilliant psychedelic rock sound. Full of fuzzed-out, driving guitars, and distorted vocals, ‘Rattlesnake’ serves as a perfect continuation from Nonagon Infinity, and will undoubtedly be a future concert staple that will ensure rapturous applause from fans.
The album continues on with ‘Melting’, a subdued number which starts to make use of Middle-Eastern styled musical scales that are easily accessible through microtonal instruments. With instrumentation that wouldn’t be out of place on an early-90’s side-scrolling video game, ‘Melting’ is a laidback track that sees a more relaxed side of the group, while still managing to incorporate their trademark musical intricacy.
‘Open Water’ sees the group continue on with groove-rock sound that made them famous before ‘Sleep Drifter’ brings out the group’s legendary harmonica sounds. Somewhat contradictory, ‘Sleep Drifter’ is fast-paced, yet lives up to its title with a dreamy vibe strewn throughout, giving the album a relatively peaceful breather that is usually much-needed in the group’s records.
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The artwork to the album invokes images of snake-charming, and the usage of microtonal instruments allows the group to utilise harmonic minor scales frequently, sounds which are commonly used to soundtrack images of Hindu music and the process of snake-charming, often seen in fictional portrayals. These sounds are used regularly throughout the second half of the album, and while they may sound intriguing and refreshing at first glance, their novelty soon wears off, and begins to feel quite repetitive as the album continues.
By this token, the following tracks ‘Billabong Valley’, ‘Annoxia’, ‘Doom City’, and ‘Nuclear Fusion’ all feature incredibly similar instrumentation and melodies, with the tracks seeming to all run into each other. However, the tunes redeem themselves almost fully thanks in part to constant stylistic changes throughout, which manages to give these songs a constantly varying vibe, which is refreshing against the somewhat constant melodies.
The album’s closer, the titular ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ sees the Middle-Eastern influences in full force, with the track tending towards more of a 60’s influences raga that The Beatles would have been proud to record during their experimental phase.
The album does have its drawbacks at times though, namely in that the experimentation feels as though it doesn’t go far enough. While previous albums have felt quite unrestrained, unrelenting, and full of unbridled energy, Flying Microtonal Banana, although itself the very product of trying hard to push boundaries, tends to rely on a similar sound throughout. Feeling somewhat restrained, the album seems to show King Gizzard afraid to stray from their already-defined ideas.
To put it quite simply, if you’re listening to Flying Microtonal Banana with the intention of finding another Nonagon Infinity, you’ll be somewhat disappointed. However, as is to be expected with any material that King Gizzard release, you’re going to get something different every time.
If Nonagon Infinity was the crazy night out, Flying Microtonal Banana is the continuation that unfolds into the drunken morning after, where everything is a little hazy, not quite as you remember, and a little bit hard to swallow. Above it all though, it leaves you intrigued. It leaves you wanting more, and it leaves you interested to know where the band will find themselves next. With another four albums to be released this year, we can be certain we’re going to hear a number of different sides to the sprawling enigma that is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
3.5 Stars
Flying Microtonal Banana is out Friday, Feb 24th through Flightless/Remote Control, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard will be heading out on an album tour soon, so be sure to check them out when they hit up your town.
