#20 on the 2024 Bacon Top 31 — King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

January 12, 2025 by Royal Stuart in Top 31, 2024

Flight b741 by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

As I wrote in my entry for the band here at #20 in last year’s Top 31 for their two 2023 albums (at #5 last year), I was only recently indoctrinated into the lighthearted cult that is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Now that another full year has passed since I wrote that, I am fully vested in the band. To whit: I jumped on their latest album, the phenomenal Flight b741, and devoured it as soon as it came out in August; I got to see the band perform a balls-to-the-wall 3-hour set at my favorite summertime venue, The Gorge; and I’ve now bought a ticket, a flight, and a hotel room for a one-night excursion to see the band in another city (San Diego) in 2025. I am 100% all in.

Go back and read last year’s entry (linked above) to learn more about the band and their 15-year history. As is their wont, Flight b741, their 26th album (and surprisingly, the only album they released in 2024), is completely unlike either album they released in 2023. Gone is the barking, driving rhythms of heavy metal and the techno-centric bleeps and bloops. In its place, there’s wailing harmonica, high-energy fuzzed-out guitar, and swinging southern-blues rock & roll. Forget Metallica and Animal Collective, and instead think of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Black Crowes. It’s a complete 180, but it’s expected from KGLW, and it’s great.

Thus is the power of King Gizzard. These six guys from Melbourne have a knack for adaptation and synthesis. To my ears (admittedly still in elementary school when it comes to KGLW), the only consistent sound across their albums is the “wooo!” from the band’s most consistent frontman, Stu Mackenzie¹.

After having spent many Memorial Day weekends at the Gorge in the 00’s and 10’s for the best-ever music festival (Sasquatch), it holds a special place in my heart. When I saw King Gizzard play there in September, that feeling came back — not just because of the venue, but because of the breadth of music played by the band. With 26 albums in their catalog, and so many genres to pull from, you’d think you’d get a bit of whiplash going from genre to genre to genre. But instead, you’re guided along, each song feeling like it belongs with the previous and the following, as if the band is some aural trail guide taking you on a previously unexplored adventure. We left there feeling as if we’d been to a full music festival, rather than having seen a single band peform.

KGLW also did something completely unheard of for last year’s tour: they had a multi-camera film crew stream every show live on the web for free. And afterwards, anyone could choose to host the live video on their own YouTube channel, again, for free. Eventually the band put the livestreams up on their own YouTube channel (watch “Live at the Gorge ’24”). I found out as I was researching for this article, in the link description for that Gorge performance the band posted the full high-quality audio files from the show for download, again for free. They also provided a separate Dropbox link to be able to download the stems from the show – meaning, anyone could have Cavs’ (Michael Cavanagh’s) drums, or Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s² keyboards singled out from the 3-hour performance, to remix and use however they see fit. All for free. This type of overabundance of goodwill towards their fans goes a long long way in creating the kind of adoration from their fans that evokes the “cult” label.

While being prolific on the tour circuit, they were pretty subdued on the recording front. They’ve only produced one video for Flight b741, linked above, for the song “Le Risque.” But it’s a good video, and it shows just how much fun these guys have together. I’m jealous.

Despite only releasing one album in 2024, later in the year the band released a non-album track called “Phantom Island” and announced that they indeed did have another album in the hopper, that was recorded at the same time as Flight b741:

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And that is why I will be flying to San Diego to see them perform later this year – in promotion of the yet-to-be-released album, they’ll be touring with a full 28-piece orchestra, and they decided they weren’t bringing the orchestra anywhere near the Pacific Northwest. So, to them, I go, because of course I do.

It feels as if eventually everyone will become a fan of KGLW. They are infectious, and they produce so many different kinds of music, they’re bound to land on something you like. If you didn’t like last year’s albums, give this year’s album a try. And if that’s not your bag, maybe their 2025 release(s) will float your boat. It’s ok if it takes time; I know eventually everyone will come around.

^{1. A quick aside here to give a shoutout to the anonymous writer on Mackenzie’s wikipedia entry, who quipped, “Mackenzie formed King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard as a casual band for his friends in the Melbourne music scene to play together in without needing to rehearse or practice. They have since recorded 26 studio albums.”↩}
^{2. I’m ashamed to admit I never did get around to listening to Ambrose’s side-project album he made with Jay “GUM” Watson, called Ill Times, but I’ve heard good things about it.↩}

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#5 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard

January 27, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation and The Silver Cord by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Without doing any actual research, I would assume that more often than not, a band’s debut album is where most of us start listening to a band. A debut album often takes years to make, the culmination of songs written and crafted with long-time school friends into a cohesive whole. But maybe you missed their first record, or they hadn’t found their groove yet, so it’s their sophomore record that really hooked you. There are some stellar third albums out there that have gotten me hooked – Radiohead’s OK Computer comes to mind. But never, and I mean never has it taken until a band’s 24th and 25th album for me to finally notice them. But King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are anything but typical.

I’ve known of King Gizzard for a long time, mostly thanks to a couple of good friends who have continually tried to convince me that this crazy group of Australians who are saddled with the somewhat negative label “jam band” are actually good. Pete and Ryan — I hereby declare that you were right. I’m sorry to have ever doubted you. Hailing from Melbourne, the band is made up of six multi-instrumentalists: Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Joey Walker, Cook Craig, Lucas Harwood, and Michael Cavanagh, all of whom sing in addition to playing too many different instruments to name.

The band has only been around since 2010 and they released their first album in 2012. 24 albums in the following 11 years and it’s clear they are in desperate need of an editor. They are a jam band unlike any other. The genres listed on their wikipedia page are quite varied: psych rock, garage rock, prog rock, and heavy metal, just to name a few.

Let’s look at the two stellar albums they’ve released this year. PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation is a heavy metal album “about humankind, and it’s about planet Earth, but it’s also about witches and dragons, and shit,” according to Mackenzie. This is the album that finally hooked me. The song “Gila Monster,” shown in the video above, is the best song from the album, but it is a head-banging, prog-rock masterpiece that would feel at home in any Tool fan’s collection. The Silver Cord, a true “double album” — with a standard version that runs 28 minutes and an extended version that has longer versions of the same seven songs runs 88 minutes. That’s nearly two hours of music, not that I’m counting. But where PetroDragonic Apocalypse has multiple guitars blaring at every turn, the electropop album The Silver Cord doesn’t have a single guitar on it. This album feels much more like an Animal Collective record. Much like Taylor Swift and her Swifties, the band loves to plant easter eggs and other puzzles within their music, creating a running thread of conspiracy theories and lore throughout their fandom. These two albums are no different – despite sounding wholly different, they are meant to be complementary, a yin and yang. The extended version songs on Cord feature direct callbacks to songs from Apocalypse.

I love a band that is clearly having the most fun doing what they do. Watch the video above for “Gila Monster,” or the other two videos they’ve released from these two albums, for “Dragon” and a three-song “Theia/The Silver Cord/Set,” and you’ll see how ridiculous they can be. They’re very over the top, and everybody knows it. But when you produce fantastic music, people are willing to accept a large amount of ridiculousness from your orbit (again, much like Taylor Swift).

What really sold me on the band was getting to experience them live in late spring 2023. The repeated listenings of Apocalypse and some choice records from their discography in the buildup to the show; the buzz of the fans before, during and after the show despite the torrential downpour for most of it, and even the unexpected early cutoff that clearly angered the band (speakers were cut at 9pm sharp – I guess the band missed that part of the contract when they signed up to play at a farm not accustomed to entertaining thousands of blissed-out showgoers) – all of it culminated in one of the most memorable show-going experiences I’ve ever had.

I get to see them at the Gorge later this year, in late September, where in the past I’ve experienced thunderstorms and extreme winds, blistering heat and bitter cold – who knows what is in store? But I know it’s going to be amazing, and I just can’t wait.

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#20 on the 2015 Bacon Top 31

December 12, 2015 by Royal Stuart

Viet Cong by Viet Cong

The album that ushers us into the Top 20 came out way back in January, so it feels almost like it’s been around too long to be on this year’s countdown. It could also be that this album, the self-titled debut from Calgary, Alberta, Canada’s Viet Cong, sounds a bit like a couple other albums I’ve loved over the past few years — namely, the psych-rock sounds of Cloud Control and Foxygen that featured on the 2013 Bacon Top 31.

But there are other sounds, too: Animal Collective. Dungen. Jangly, dissonant guitar. Excellent use of both left and right channels (this is perfect for the headphone generation we’re currently living through), It’s a short album, only 37 minutes long. I mentioned when I linked to their NSFW video for the song “Continental Shelf” back in February that Matt Flegel’s vocals reminded me of Spencer Krug (from Moonface, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, and others), but listening lately, I’ve been hearing more Peter Murphy. Listen to “Silhouettes” in the video above, and you’ll hear echoes of Joy Division, Interpol, and Editors.

The references for this album are plenty (clearly), and that’s a good thing. You will recognize and love this sound when you put it on. Then let it wash over you, and realize just how good it really is.

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21. The Magic Whip by Blur
22. Savage Hills Ballroom by Youth Lagoon
23. Not Real by Stealing Sheep
24. Beat the Champ by The Mountain Goats
25. Gliss Riffer by Dan Deacon
26. Dark Bird is Home by The Tallest Man on Earth
27. Gunnera by Pfarmers
28. Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair by Ricked Wickey
29. To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
30. Live in Seattle by Moufang / Czamanski
31. High by Royal Headache

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#18 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

December 14, 2013 by Royal Stuart

Howlin’ by Jagwar Ma

I wonder what’s driving the new explosion in great music coming out of Australia and New Zealand. Here we are at #18 with our third band from the area (see #20 and #28 for the other two), Jagwar Ma, a trio from Sydney whose debut album Howlin’ is one of the most danceable albums on The Calendar.

The band does seem to fit a theme similar to that of Cloud Control, who’s sophomore album Dream Cave was featured here two days ago. But where Cloud Control had just a little bit of Animal Collective in their psychedelic rock and roll, Jagwar Ma have a lot of psychedelic rock and roll in their Animal-Collective-esque dance music. The video above, for “Save Me” is a very good representation of the rest of the album. They have at least two other videos for other songs from the album, “Man I Need” and “The Throw,” if you need more of a taste.

Bottom line: if you like Animal Collective, old Primal Scream, or even if you just like to move your hips every once and a while, then you should check out Jagwar Ma. Unfortunately they just came through town just this past Tuesday (I missed them, too), so we’ll have to catch them together next time they’re in town, ok?

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19. Impersonator by Majical Cloudz
20. Dream Cave by Cloud Control
21. Mole City by Quasi
22. Phantogram by Phantogram
23. Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface
24. Uncanney Valley by The Dismemberment Plan
25. Event II by Deltron 3030
26. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots
27. Us Alone by Hayden
28. Pure Heroine by Lorde
29. Shaking the Habitual by The Knife
30. False Idols by Tricky
31. Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

2012 Musical Bacon Calendar
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2009 Musical Bacon Calendar

#20 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

December 12, 2013 by Royal Stuart

Dream Cave by Cloud Control

This is not the first band from south of the equator to appear on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar, (see Lorde at #28), and it won’t be the last. But this is the first appearance of Cloud Control, a band from outside of Sydney, Australia, whose second album Dream Cave is just gorgeous.

Falling somewhere between the Beach Boys and Grouplove, the band creates psychadelic pop soundscapes. Lots of reverb and echo, harmonies and happiness, like Animal Collective if they actually wrote pop songs with any kind of obvious structure. Cloud Control don’t sound like they’re from Australia (what would that sound like?), but before learning about the band, I’d assumed they were English, as they have that London rock ’n’ roll appeal.

The video above, for their song “Scar,” is the second video they’ve released from the album, which came out back in August. (The first video, for “Dojo Rising,” was featured on The Bacon Review back in October.) I’m not sure what to make of the video, which has the lead singer of the band walking across the (assumed) Australian countryside, near the Blue Mountains where the band is from, dirty and getting dirtier (and even a little bloody) as the video goes on. The song is called “Scar,” I get it, but isn’t that taking it a bit far?

Cloud Control come through town on January 15th, at Barboza. That venue is TINY and it will no doubt sell out, so get on that ASAP.

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21. Mole City by Quasi
22. Phantogram by Phantogram
23. Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface
24. Uncanney Valley by The Dismemberment Plan
25. Event II by Deltron 3030
26. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots
27. Us Alone by Hayden
28. Pure Heroine by Lorde
29. Shaking the Habitual by The Knife
30. False Idols by Tricky
31. Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

2012 Musical Bacon Calendar
2011 Musical Bacon Calendar
2010 Musical Bacon Calendar
2009 Musical Bacon Calendar