Only six months after their last release, Melbourne’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are back with album four, Oddments.
Having released three albums in two years, including one of the best Australian albums of 2013,Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, the seven-man collective could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the gas a little. Instead, their swift return delivers another set of mind-warping morsels.
‘Alluda Majaka’ opens with what sounds like a warped tape of Indian music that someone found under a car seat before kicking into a brisk drum and keyboard-driven groove featuring the occasional horse neigh. In contrast to the opener’s bustling vibe, ‘Stressin’’ moves things into a more stoned-out direction that continues through ’Vegemite’ and the bluesy ‘It’s Got Old’.
The spacey ‘Work This Time’ is one of the album’s real standouts. From both a songwriting and production perspective it shows an emotionally eloquent side to the band that has rarely been put on show before. ‘Hot Wax’ sounds like a deranged Velvet Underground trying to make surf music.
Oddmentsmarks yet another striking step in King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s rapid creative evolution. What the hell are they going to do next?
4/5 stars
Oddmentsout now on Flightless/Remote Control.
