King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – L.W. (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 September 2021.
finishing the double album release and as vol 3 of the larger microtonal experiment, L.W. is an early 2021 release! review coming today!
If Not Now, Then When? Felt like a nice groove initially but grew on me, it has a great driving beat to it, i love the melody on what is that, the synth? and the lyrics and overall message of the song are great. there’s a small issue with it tho, in my opinion, where the vocal effect and levels are brought right into the mix with the instruments, which really impacts lyrical clarity. very big fan of O.N.E. The guitar solo is great, and i love the chanting mixed into the back that just hits you with a wall of noise afterwards. its a nice effect to have that back off, and then resume intensity (with other instruments) afterwards for a chorus before moving into the outro. moving into Pleura, it def continues the trend if having a really neat, interesting intro. a friend had mentioned that it was pretty obvious this record was born of the pandemic, and Pleura is where that really sinks in. the song’s got some killer riffs and some quality lyrics, but as a package im kind of middling on it. LOVE the transition immediately into Supreme Ascendancy without missing a beat. SA is an excellent transition thematically, and i feel like even though the intro is such a different vibe the switch is really refreshing, especially as SA ramps up into its first chorus. lyrically, its a great track, and i like the nice lilting chords played over the rapid fire drums and deep chords. def one of my top tracks on the record. after the climactic finish of Supreme Ascendancy, Static Electricity has such a bewitching, entracing vibe to it. East West Link feels so close in vibe to Static Electricty that it kinda feels odd having them both so close together. i kinda slip out in this section of the album, but Ataraxia’s actually a track that grew a lot on me. love the vocal performance on this one, with a great rhythm flowing right under it. The instrumental break in the middle is nice, but its def not my fav part of the track. See Me’s aight but i’m not a huge fan. i’m not sure my opinion has changed drastically from initial on K.G.L.W. (L.W.). it’s still a very interesting track to listen to, and experience the flow of the track, but i’m honestly not that big a fan.
faves – O.N.E., Supreme Ascendancy
dislikes –
if im being completely honest, i feel bad wrapping this review up now. this record has a lot of complexity, a lot of depth, has some very beautiful progressions of sound, some extremely good lyrics, but very few of the songs leap out at me, and taken on a whole it’s def not one of my faves. more so than any of their other records, i believe that when i put more listens in to this, my opinion will change, and a few of these tracks will kinda brush off the dirt and shine, but i don’t know how many listens away that is, haha. needless to say, i enjoyed the album, but its far from my fave.
L.W. – 6/10
i’ve mentioned in the intros that this album connects to previous microtonal volumes – at some point i’m interested in listening to both K.G. and L.W. stapled together and seeing how they flow, as well as all three together, but i think that’s a project for another time.
either way, we’re catching up to present with Butterfly 3000!
support the band by buying this record on Bandcamp
first: Willoughby’s Beach | previous: K.G. | next: Butterfly 3000
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