Album review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Float Along Fill Your Lungs

This, the new album from self-proclaimed “absolutely fried theremin-wielding psychopaths” King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, is their second from a productive year. It is also a departure from their previous efforts and, it seems, a maturing.

This album is more of an exercise in songwriting and structure after February’s fantastic spoken-word spaghetti-western experiment, Eyes Like the Sky. It sees an extension of the band’s interest in effects and eclectic instrumentation but this time pairs it with a recurring classic pop theme.

There is no better example of how this particular combination of sound experimentation and pop songwriting can be unpredictable than the opening track of the album, Head On/Pill. Clocking in at a mammoth 16 minutes, it is by far the longest track on the album. Starting (and continuing) with a full-bodied lilt of drums, distorted guitars and a sitar, it treads a line between alienating and captivating. Though it makes use of tempo changes and structural variations just as I feel myself being seduced by the ‘forward’ button, I’m afraid that less-patient listeners may be lost at this too-early stage.

The album soon picks up, featuring several strong numbers with an obvious focus on songwriting. Among these are the second single from the album and second track, I’m Not A Man Unless I Have A Woman, which sees a nod to soul, ’60s pop and rock fusion like Devendra Banhart circa Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. It could easily be a B-side to this album were it not for the distinct sitar and vocal effects of Gizzard. Stu Mackenzie‘s vocals are given a pleasant, slightly freakish edge. The more subtle effects add to the skeleton of the song here rather than overwhelm the music as on other parts of the album (Lend Me The Past, Pop In My Step, Head On).

Other standout tracks in a similar vein include God Is Calling Me Back Home, which harks back to country moments in the band’s immediate past and the riff-based rock of their old EP days, and Mystery Jack, a slow-motion tribute to ’60s surf and pop which features one of their strongest melody lines and a rare guitar solo. It is material like this that brings home how much Gizzard are progressing in the composition stakes.

While the classic pop element seems to be a fairly new addition to the Gizzard songbook, this band never stops excelling at the kind of garage fuzz exhibited in tracks like the first single from the album 30 Past 7, and the epic yet impressively-focused closing title track. These songs have the immediate appeal of dazed summer anthems – I can already hear them being played in cars with the windows rolled down and on beach fronts in the coming months. As a Gizzard strong suit, these songs feature the most comprehensive and appropriate use of effects and noisy interludes. The closer is a sentimental track and a perfect end to the album; a more reflective, ‘90s-influenced ballad strongly reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish.

Float Along… proves that King Gizzard are not afraid to push themselves to new places, and that alone is commendable. They do sometimes seem distracted on this album by adding not-always-necessary noise to songs, or jamming them out of recognition. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but can be risky when you are exploring new territory as they are, and especially challenging when you are trying to pair it with pop.

This very experimentation is what is so good about this album, however. It is at the very least, an entertaining exercise in genre, more specifically breaking genre, and it sees King Gizzard developing a distinctive and imaginative voice. Though the album struggles a bit to find a unifying thread – parts of the album sitting in somewhat awkward contrast to each other – the beauty of it is that you can hear the search happening before your very ears. It is exciting to bear witness to, and that speaks volumes for the future of this band.