Why You Should Be Hyped For King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard In 2017

Having already established themselves as workhorses, masters of putting on a live show, and jazz aficionados, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have decided to put their already solid work ethic of around two album releases a year into overdrive with five albums set to be released in 2017.

With every release from the band so far having their own character, it’s a worrying thought that the Gizz might not be able to keep up the individuality they have on every album with the 2017 slate, but already there are ideas that are being thrown around and they sound terrific if you ask us!

So far we only have information on the first album ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’, an album where the lads have pushed themselves to learn how to compose on a microtonal tuning. To many of you the term “microtonal tuning” is meaningless, but let us shed some light on the gravitas of what the Gizz are doing.

Microtonal tuning has traditionally never been used in western music due to the sound, which usually makes notes sound slightly out of tune (flat or sharp) by doubling the number of notes in intervals for octaves. To put it simply where there are usually 12 notes there are now 24, so each pitch has its own half-pitch per say. Tricky for songwriting usually and quite the obstacle for fuzzy garage goodness.

Microtonal tuning adds a terrific worldly flair with tinges of Thai, Indian, and Indonesian music naturally, very appropriate for a band as eclectic as King Gizz. The Gizz will be seemingly going down the route of their brand of garage rock for the album which boasts being “part 1” of their “exploration into microtonal tuning”, which we can only assume means there will be another microtonal album within the 5 of 2017. It make sense there would be another microtonal album within the next year as the instruments on the album were specifically modified to accommodate microtonal tuning.

Rattlesnake, the lead single from ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’, boasts addictive simplicity that the Gizz have mastered on tracks like Mr Beat. But Rattlesnake makes interesting use of instrumentation with a grand piano and Zurna (Turkish horn) to make for an exciting album opener. While Rattlesnake‘s monotonous drone of “Rattlesnake” will be off-putting for some listeners and the track doesn’t have the wild roller-coaster changes that the tracks on ‘Nonagon Infinity’ had, Rattlesnake is a terrific head-bobber and, if we’re honest, is a grower of a track.

We only have little details here and there from interviews as to what we can expect the other albums of 2017 to sound like from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, but there are some very exciting details.

Mastermind Stu Mackenzie announced one of the albums will be a follow-up to their latest red-hot release ‘Nonagon Infinity‘, an infinitely looping album full of sweaty, psych-rock. The easiest way to get early peeks at new Gizz is to simply see the band live, at their latest show in Brisbane on their ‘Nonagon Infinity’ tour the lads played two new tracks that sounded very Nonagon Infinity-esque, putting them in with a good chance to appear on that upcoming release (they sounded immense).

This follow-up is one of the releases that may spell King Gizz doubling up on themselves and we would be pessimistic on a follow-up to ‘Nonagon Infinity’ coming so, soon if we hadn’t heard the sweet tunes already.

Not only will ‘Nonagon Infinity’ have company in the 2017 releases but Jazz-tinged 2015 release ‘Quarters’ will be joined by another jazzy album in 2017, collaborating with fellow Gizzfest headliners Mild High Club. The indie scene is a small club at the end of the day and to see two huge acts collaborating like this is sure to end in an amazing result!

If you want a general idea of what this album might sound like take a listen to a gem from Mild High Club below! Further details on the sweet little festival known as Gizzfest can be found below as well…

Gizzfest 2016

FRI 25 NOV
Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane
SAT 26 NOV
Coburg Velodrome, Melbourne
TUE 29 NOV
The Big Top, Sydney
SAT 3 DEC
Thebarton Theater, Adelaide
SUN 4 DEC
Bar Pop Urban Orchard, Perth

Get Tickets HERE