Adventures Of Crosley, AAA’s Record Player: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard ‘Nonagon Infinity’ – “Rainbow Splattered Emu Egg Edition”

Since being gently introduced to records Crosley has been getting up to some mischief, getting wrapped up with some obscure fellas, but still Crosley came out unscathed…

On a Thursday night you need that extra something to get through the last day of the week, and what could be better suited than a fast-paced psychedelic masterpiece from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, ‘Nonagon Infinity’ – “Rainbow Splattered Emu Egg Edition”. An album that already sounds like it could be discovered on the side of the road and be mistaken for an alien music disc, made only better played with Crosley.

Side A fades into existence with a recap of the end of Side B, this is all part of the warped appeal of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, with ‘Nonagon Infinity’ being an infinitely looping album. Side A is an unrelenting grimy rock experience, opening with our first instance of the devilish “Nonagon Infinity opens the door” (a recurring phrase and theme throughout the record).

The Gizz open firing all cylinders with an absolute explosion of an extended jam that spans Robot Stop and Big Fig Wasp, before a short riff break leads us into the atomic explosion of Gamma Knife with its unforgettable chorus. Finally, People-Vultures broodingly opens with a morbid 12-string and even more gloomy organ that makes you feel like the heavens are closing up and the ground is cracking before you. Side A ends fading into a taste of the first track on Side B.

Side B opens with the upbeat and funky Mr Beat, an organ-heavy jam with the repeat of “Once I’m Mr Beat, only miss a beat” putting you into a hypnotised daze of security before you are left alone to fend for yourself with Evil Death Roll. Opening like a horror movie, the guitar riff slashes like an 80’s serial killer before an almost indescribable jam that seems to last a lifetime closes the track, not that that’s a problem.

Going through mood after mood eventually diving into a world of harmonics ringing out almost like a church hall of bells, the jam is an enlightening experience. One of the most impressive aspects of King Gizz is their ability to seamlessly change between songs and moods at the drop of a hat, and this is no different on ‘Nonagon Infinity’. Both Invisible Face and Wah Wah blend and borrow from each other with Wah Wah beginning midway through the ending jam of Invisible Face, just to keep you on your toes.

The end of the album being within sight comes with the rumbling drums of Road Train, while guitar fuzz revs like a formula one car approaching a final corner. Road Train is an interesting blend of almost country/blues storytelling with the vocal style, but at the same time the track is King Gizz in their prime instrumentally. Night Train is a real foot-stomper (if you can imagine that of King Gizz) with some fantastic build-ups in the lead up to one final explosion of the same theme that started the record, leading us back to start another loop of the record.

‘Nonagon Infinity’ as a whole when listening is like being inside a small gig, full of sweaty punters with the Gizz belting through the entire record right there in front of you. Despite what seems like a constant audio attack that would leave you needing a breather afterwards, you want to keep looping the record infinitely. All these little themes pop up across the album not just with small bits and pieces of other tracks making a cameo, but also cameos from the entire Gizz catalogue managing to be seamlessly gelled into this latest Gizz masterpiece, making for an experience that’s hard to put down.

When listening on vinyl, ‘Nonagon Infinity’ takes on an entirely new appeal, the production is fresh and crisp yet drenched in classic lo-fi King Gizz bravado that has plenty of imperfection thrown in to make the experience rawer. Along with this, crazy effects are thrown at you before you can finish saying “I’m in your mind fuzz”.

This vintage yet alien feeling for the record spreads to the packaging with the center-fold being a terrific photo of all seven members dressed in distinctly psychedelic robe and cloth, along with face-paint on them making them look like they are preparing for a ritual. Not only this, but we were listening on the Rainbow Splattered Emu Egg Edition of the record which is truly hypnotic to watch. The whole visuals of the record make it easy mistakable as a record from another planet.

Regardless of whether you get one of the crazier pressings of ‘Nonagon Infinity’ or not, the record is jam-packed with energy and is easily one of the best records King Gizz have put out. This combined with the production being spectacular to experience on vinyl make ‘Nonagon Infinity’ a must-have for any music fan, regardless of whether they are a vinyl freak or not!