King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (From the Vault)
hey folks, welcome to some discography reviews. i’ve been writing music reviews for some friends in a discord server for a few years now in various forms, but i figured i’d like to get them all in a more centralized space, so here we are! this first series of reviews is a review of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s discography, starting in 2011 with Willoughby’s Beach and running right into 2021 with Butterfly 3000. this review was originally written in August 2021.
today’s topic is KGLW’s only release in 2016, Nonagon Infinity, and, well… i’m gonna have “Nonagon Infinity, Open the Door” stuck in my head for the rest of my life. and honestly? yeah that’s not bad at all.
Robot Stop is EXCELLENT. truly a great way to “kick off” the album. the relentless bass and rhythms driving forward, forward, forward, right up into the big bridge where the harmonica comes in and the beat takes a little loop around, it’s so fun to listen to and sing along with. yeah I could gush for this song forever. honestly, “I’m up here for the weirdo swarm / I’m the door when you come for more” followed immediately by “Nonagon Infinity opens the door” really feels accurate to how i came around to this album, lol. i also really appreciate how that “Album Chorus”, and especially how the associated instrumental hooks are baked into the first couple segments of the album. the transition into Big Fig Wasp is lost to me every time if i’m not actively watching the tracklist (it doesn’t help that my brain’s a dumbass and didn’t even register that part of that is that they literally blend some of Robot Stop back in, haha). but yeah, Big Fig Wasp is a very solid track – lyrically it doesn’t hook me but it keeps up that driving beat and the excellent instrumental loops, so yeah. good shit. Gamma Knife, damn. wild to think that this record HAD singles, given everything. i’m trying to imagine if i had been a gizz fan and was listening to this record new in 2016. like, i would be high on Mind Fuzz and recently enjoying the developments on Dream Balloon, and then this single would come along and completely knock my fucking socks clean off. i think the slow step down in the last minute is necessary as a transitional element, but it’s kinda weird to have People-Vultures kinda dip out at the beginning only to bring a lot of the driving, all-consuming engine back in. i think… the lines about what he has “left to spew down” has a different connotation in a post-Han-Tyumi listening world for sure. as catchy as i find Mr. Beat it really is sad to see the last of the Robot Stop kinda fade off between the lul at the end of Gamma Knife and the long instrumental in People-Vultures. ngl i’m glad i’m looking up a little info i am looking at for these albums because the joke about “missing beat” and the 7/4 time is hilarious. the hook on this song is an insane earworm though. okay, moving into Evil Death Roll, there’s that rhythm coming back love that, this song’s pretty metal ngl. and i love that they blend Invisible Face in early and bring back the album chorus on this one. Invisible Face feels a lot more in line with what i’d expect from a track alongside Mr. Beat, what with the general slowdown and even the long break about a minute in, so it’s interesting to have them put such a lot track like Evil Death Roll, which brings in so many myriad parts of the album, to divide what would otherwise just be the “slow third” of the nonagon. also, gotta say, discussion of the universe as a machine puts some of Robot Stop in different perspective. it’s interesting to see Wah Wah act as a third version of the album’s beat but slower. i think it functions really well to transition the larger fluctuations of the Mr. Beat – Evil Death Roll – Invisible Face sections back into Road Train, which itself is a great development of the sound and works PERFECTLY to loop back into Robot Stop. i love Road Train – i favorited this song after like, my second listen to this record way before this project. the slow “nonagon infinity” in the last thirty seconds right before the Robot Stop rhythm kicks back in is great.
faves – Nonagon Infinity
dislikes –
yeah given the nature of the album and the analysis above, i don’t have a ton more to say. the only thing is that this is a great album, it’s my fave so far for sure. i’ll be coming back to this one a lot.
Nonagon Infinity – 10/10
next review kicks off their 5 album year with Flying Microtonal Banana!
support the band by buying this record on Bandcamp
first: Willoughby’s Beach | previous: Paper Mache Dream Balloon | next: Flying Microtonal Banana
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