For years now I have sung the praises of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, which I can finally proclaim with confidence are officially my favorite band. I listen to a considerable amount of varied music across years and genres and do not make this statement likely. They are incredibly creative, have multiple excellent albums in multiple genres, and most of all they absolutely shred live. I am not sure I’ve seen a group so hungry to try different things and then do it so well.
However they are a mammoth of a band to explain. It’s like explaining the plot of Lord of the Rings – there’s layers of lore, side quests, and the sheer heft of the full discography is part of what makes it so satisfying.
Recently I have been introducing the band to more people. This upcoming weekend I actually am seeing them in concert twice, bringing along two new friends into the fold. I hope this is a good launchpad for them as well as any curious listeners out there.
Explaining the phenomena of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (aka KGLW, King Gizz, or just Gizz)
They are a six person experimental rock band from Melbourne, and have now released 28 albums since 2012. They started as what I would call a surf / garage / psychedelic rock band with lots of fuzzy sounds, feedback, and some tasty riffs, which then grew more and more explorative. They were a part of the 2010’s Aussie psych wave (think acts like Tame Impala, Pond, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets) but eventually veered into a different lane. They intentionally cover various genres, chasing anything that interests them at the time. They’ve hit all of these so far: garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, jazz rock, jam rock, folk/acoustic, blues/boogie rock, classic rock, orchestral rock, microtonal rock, metal, synth-pop, electronic/dance, funk, hip-hop/rap, and even spaghetti western. They are such wild band that for 15 of their 28 albums they had two drummers.
Through their endless exploration they will hop in and out of genres, such as when they dropped a thrash metal album out of the blue (Infest the Rats Nest, #15, 2019) and then surprised us all when they dropped a follow up (Petrodragonic, #24, 2023) nine albums later, hitting microtonal, synch pop, jazz rock, boogie, and experimental electronic albums in the interim. Other times they get in a real groove and release a few similar albums in a row. You just don’t know what you’re going to get with the Gizz slot machine, except that it will be thoughtful and fun.
They often release these at a frantic pace and there have been two different years where they actually dropped five full length albums each year. Yet these are not low quality or randomly thrown together works. These albums are complicated, often with long musical themes that span various songs, or in some cases create entire albums that are continuous with no gap between songs. They will introduce a gnarly lick in an early song on an album, then you’d be surprised to see it is the entire core of a song later in the album.
Nor are these releases just role-playing as a different genre. They genuinely try to learn the essence of the music, its history and influences, and then take their own swing at it. When they got hooked on Turkish microtonal music, they modified their own instruments to create the sound and subsequently released Flying Microtonal Banana (#9, 2017). The itch never left, and they later followed it up with two more albums, K.G. (#16, 2020) and L.W. (#17, 2021), for more microtonal action. Note this was 3-4 years before Angine de Poitrine came to the scene with their strange microtonal music as well.
The music is not always an established genre either. They like to experiment. Murder of the Universe (#10, 2017) is a narrated album, with essentially a long poem being read over awesome guitar shredding and telling an amazing story, as well as being split into two distinct halves. K.G. and L.W. are sister albums, with continuity between the opening of one and the close of the other. Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (#21, 2022) is a jazz-rock album with cool grooves and long solos, with the ability live to expand. They also have compendium albums which span various genres, often seen as a catch all for music they write between concept albums. Some excellent songs come from this as well.
A major part of their allure is that they tour a crazy amount and are often regarded as a jam band. They pay attention to setlists they’ve played before in cities and often times try not to repeat. You can see their recent set lists and the distribution of how songs break down across live shows. Concerts will be a mix of any music they want to play and sometimes they will pull a really deep cut.
Their performances are electric. They will often play for hours when sound ordinance allows, and love to extend songs, veer into solos, and then even “tease” parts of other songs that they may, or may not, play later in a set. The fans are decked out in lots of tie dye, span all ages, and unsurprisingly have a lot of crossover with the fandoms of other jam bands like Phish, Grateful Dead, and Goose.
They will also perform multiple shows in a row in NYC and at their own music festival, Field of Vision in Colorado. For New York this year they are doing four shows, two of which are “Rock Shows” and then the remaining two are “Rave Shows”, following their latest European tour and era for the band as they’ve been all about playing a live synthesizer, lovingly named “Nathan”. As the de facto seventh member of the band, Nathan is a massive contraption of wires and sound boards that they have been wheeling on stage for the last year and a half. They also will occasionally do one-off shows, like last year when a friend Tony and I saw them do an orchestra show where they played their album Phantom Island (#27, 2025) in full with orchestra backing. They then rearranged a handful of other older songs and had the symphony play along.
They also have strange choices in publishing their music. They pulled all music off of Spotify last year as protest against Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify. They also allow for Bootleg Gizzard, a collective where anyone can take their livestreams, package them, and then post online. All their music, studio and bootleg, is on Bandcamp totally for free.
Start Here
See a full listing of albums below. You can see just how many various genres they touch. Beneath it I then break them down by families within the ”Gizzverse” and have links to all the music.
I’d suggest finding a family that really speaks to you, start there, and see where it takes you. If you’re overwhelmed by the vastness of the catalog, then consider first looking at Core Gizz, particularly I’m In Your Mind Fuzz (#5, 2014) and Nonagon Infinity (#8, 2016). To me they feel like the most characteristic of how this band can jam and just blend songs together.
Album Listing
2012
#1 — 12 Bar Bruise · Garage Rock
2013
#2 — Eyes Like the Sky · Spaghetti Western / Garage Rock
#3 — Float Along – Fill Your Lungs · Psychedelic Rock
2014
#4 — Oddments · Psych / Garage Rock
#5 — I’m in Your Mind Fuzz · Psych / Garage Rock
2015
#6 — Quarters! · Jazz Rock / Psych
#7 — Paper Mâché Dream Balloon · Acoustic / Folk-Psych
2016
#8 — Nonagon Infinity · Psych / Garage / Prog
2017
#9 — Flying Microtonal Banana · Microtonal Psych Rock
#10 — Murder of the Universe · Heavy Psych / Prog
#11 — Sketches of Brunswick East · Jazz Rock / Psych
#12 — Polygondwanaland · Progressive Rock / Psych
#13 — Gumboot Soup · Psych / Mixed
2019
#14 — Fishing for Fishies · Blues / Boogie Rock
#15 — Infest the Rats’ Nest · Thrash Metal
2020
#16 — K.G. · Microtonal Psych Rock
2021
#17 — L.W. · Microtonal Psych Rock
#18 — Butterfly 3000 · Synth-Pop / Psych-Pop
2022
#19 — Made in Timeland · Experimental Electronic
#20 — Omnium Gatherum · Psych / Prog / Mixed
#21 — Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava · Jam Rock / Jazz Rock / Psych
#22 — Laminated Denim · Jam Rock / Krautrock / Psych
#23 — Changes · Jazz Rock / Psych-Pop / Prog
2023
#24 — PetroDragonic Apocalypse… · Thrash / Prog Metal
#25 — The Silver Cord · Electronic / Techno
2024
#26 — Flight b741 · Blues / Boogie / Classic Rock
2025
#27 — Phantom Island · Orchestral / Jazz / Classic Rock
2026
#28 — Alien Metal · EDM / Techno / Rave
Different Gizz Families and Favorite Songs
Core Gizz
To me, this is quintessential Gizz. Fuzzy rock songs, excellent riffs, and albums that run as a continuous and sequential blend of songs. Murder of the Universe in particular is unique two part album that is narrated and incredibly entertaining.
Albums: I’m in Your Mind Fuzz (2014) | Nonagon Infinity (2016) | Murder of the Universe (2017)
Favorite songs: Mind Fuzz Suite (tracks 1-4) • Her and I (Slow Jam 2) • Nonagon Opening Suite (tracks 1-4) • Altered Beast Suite (tracks 1-15) • Han-Tyumi Suite (Altered Future) (tracks 16-21)
Psych Gizz
This is early Gizz at their hazy, lo-fi, psychedelic best.
Albums: Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013) | Oddments (2014)
Favorite songs: Head On/Pill • Hot Wax • Alluda Majaka
Metal Gizz
This is where the boys turned up the heat and dropped thrash / stoner / prog metal albums. Metal is a huge genre and I feel like can be a bit daunting to get into. If you like heavy rock, you’ll dig this. It is not screamo or anything uncomfortable: just fast guitar, unrelenting drums, and tales of global apocalypse. And yes, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation is the actual name of an album. It’s also great for the gym.
Albums: Infest the Rats’ Nest (2019) | PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)
Favorite songs: Gila Monster • Mars for the Rich • Planet B • Perihelion • Motor Spirit • Witchcraft
Jam/Jazz Gizz
Long, groovy songs built around hypnotic riffs, jazzy rhythms, and extended jams that evolve as they go.
Albums: Quarters! (2015) | Sketches of Brunswick East (2017) | Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (2022) | Laminated Denim (2022) | Changes (2022)
Favorite songs: The River • Magma • Hypertension • Ice V • Iron Lung
Microtonal Gizz
Songs using the microtonal guitar, bringing an Anatolian / Middle Eastern psychedelic sound.
Albums: Flying Microtonal Banana (2017) | K.G. (2020) | L.W. (2021)
Favorite songs: Rattlesnake • K.G.L.W. (L.W. closing version) • Nuclear Fusion • Intrasport • If Not Now, Then When?
Boogie Gizz
Feel-good, ’70s-inspired “Dad Rock” with bluesy riffs, sing-along choruses, and harmonicas. The kind of music that makes you want to crack a beer and start grilling meats.
Albums: Fishing for Fishies (2019) | Flight b741 (2024) | Phantom Island (2025)
Favorite songs: Le Risque • Field of Vision • Deadstick • Aerodynamic • Boogieman Sam
Rave Gizz
This is their latest chapter and I don’t even know how to fully describe it. They will play the synthesizer board (Nathan) live and extend many of these songs in 15+ minute affairs.
Albums: The Silver Cord (2023) | Alien Metal (2026)
Favorite songs: Set • Gilgamesh • Swan Song • Alien Metal • Level 5
Anthology Gizz
These are excellent compendium albums that have songs spanning many genres. The Dripping Tap to me is their magnum opus, a 18 minute complex and wonderful song.
Albums: Gumboot Soup (2017) | Omnium Gatherum (2022)
Favorite songs: The Dripping Tap • Muddy Water • Magenta Mountain • Ambergris • The Great Chain of Being
Other Gizz
For lack of a better name, their remaining albums that don’t fit in cleanly elswhere
Albums: 12 Bar Bruise (2012) | Eyes Like the Sky (2013) | Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015) | Polygondwanaland (2017) | Butterfly 3000 (2021) | Made in Timeland (2022)
Favorite songs: Crumbling Castle • Loyalty • Shanghai
Happy listening! I hope you fall into the rabbit hole…
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