Released: 26th April 2019
Rating: ★★★★
After the lazy buggers took most of 2018 off, Aussie psych-rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are back – though to be fair, they had released a mere five albums the previous year so a little downtime could be expected. This release, their fourteenth in just over six years, is another wild trip that continues their hot streak of form.
Environmental worries lie at the heart of ‘Fishing For Fishies’, all filtered through the fevered imagination of the Melbourne band. Whether it is the perils of over-fishing in the title track, or the rage against plastic in, erm, ’Plastic Boogie’, the slippery slope that the world’s ecology rests on runs through everything here. Elsewhere, no strange stone is left unturned. ’Acarine’ for example, a song about microscopic mites, is something that you didn’t know you wanted in your life. By the time it’s full-on synth freakout finishes, it is certainly something you need in it though.
But that diversity only tells half a story. King Gizzard consistently show their flair for dragging the sound of classic rock roots into the year 2050. ‘Boogieman Sam’ begins in a swamp of Southern Rock, yet is transformed by a juddering, spiralling staccato guitar solo into something fascinating. With much of the record clearly having its beginnings in blues, there is a euphoria in moments like ‘This Thing’ that zithers and slithers away just when it seems to be settling in.
It’s the ability to move through countless genres within one song that sets them apart, even considering the ridiculous pace of releases so far. With ceaseless imagination, serious grooves, blissful flights of fancy, ‘Fishing For Fishies’ is up there with their best. It even ends with a song about a cyborg having a dance (of course). Whatever they’re on, we want some.
Jamie MacMillan
