There were no cellophane flowers of yellow and green when King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard came through the Boston area’s Middle East Nightclub, but they sure as hell laid their claim to Overlords of the burgeoning Psychedelic Throwback genre.
While other Aussie-Psych acts like Tame Impala have taken to crafting songs with a mellow flow, what makes a King Gizzard concert more engaging is that on top of the layers of fuzz and both analog and digital delay, the songs themselves are rooted in a punk rock energy that puts a little bit of nitro into the engine for that extra kick. Their music is trippy, but don’t confuse that with laid back. It’s an up tempo adventure that could serve as the soundtrack to an adult-oriented adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth. Kicking the set off with the first, self-titled track off 2014’s I’m in Your Mind Fuzz, was the perfect tone setter.
The Australian septet consists two drummers, a keyboard/harmonica player, a bassist as well as three guitarists, one of which pulls triple duty as a flute/vocalist. While the roots of their sound laid in the layers of effects that vocals and instruments are processed through, the size of the group played a big roll in their ability to flesh out such unusual sonic landscapes. For example, with three guitars going at once, you can afford to have one playing lead, another on rhythm, and a third viciously strumming muted strings through some fuzz while wailing on a Wah Wah pedal.
In addition to the on-stage performers, the touring ensemble is augmented by two projectionists, one of whom was rocking out just as hard as his cohorts on stage. In 2015, far too many on-stage projections look like an over glorified iTunes visualizer, but these cats utilized the same tech for their light show that both Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead utilized when they were still playing club sized venues. King Gizzard had two overhead projectors, just like you had in grade school, positioned up front to the left and right of the stage. Each projectionist had two curved plates of glass that they sprayed water and colored ink between and as they pressed and pushed on different parts of the glass, the oils swirled like living, breathing organism whose next move could not be anticipated.
While their sound isn’t exactly mainstream, their catchy, up-tempo tripped-out tunes are accessible enough that there is a huge audience to consume what King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is cooking up. The Middle East was sold out way ahead of the gig and you’d be safe putting money on them playing a much bigger space the next time they come through town. While their afternoon set at Bonnaroo deprived them of their unique light show, the very fact that they were booked demonstrates that these misfits out of Melbourne are starting to get on the radar. Their studio work is worthy of a listen start to finish but what they do on stage is what will make them famous. All they need is to get in front of enough new fans-in-the-making.
