With a name that perfectly captures their psych rock majesty, Australian seven-piece King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard laced the crazy jam sessions of Frank Zappa with epic, progressive fantasies and an unwavering scrappy, DIY, garage-band spirit. Led by front man Stu Mackenzie, the band started off as Melbourne school mates clattering around together and, playing at parties, slowly grew a wildly eclectic, rampant, chaotic sound that included two engine-force drummers, flutes and a theremin. Their debut album '12 Bar Bruise' captured the frantic sounds heard on the influential 'Nuggets' compilation album of 1960s West Coast garage rock bands and, between 2013 and 2016, their prolific work rate produced seven albums, including the wild west, outlaw, concept record 'Eyes Like the Sky', the sprawling, hypnotic jams of 'Floats Along - Fill Your Lungs' and the relatively calm, acoustic, folkie daydreams of 'Papier Mache Dream Balloon'. They returned to heavy, fuzzy riffs and stomping grooves on breakthrough album 'Nonagon Infinity' before rebuilding their guitars to play Eastern-style micro tones and creating their own unique sound partly inspired by Turkish folk music, with comparisons drawn to Hawkwind at their most febrile on 'Flying Microtonal Banana'. They also set up the Gizzfest music festival, which toured across Australia, before creating a dystopian sci-fi nightmare on tenth studio album 'Murder of the Universe' in 2017.
Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.