<p><span><span><span>- In their newest record -and one that’s shockingly straightforward- Melbourne ensemble King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are in disguise. Like plain clothed police, they’re hardly recognisable. Across </span><em>Butterfly 3000 </em><span>- their psychedelic, dream-pop tinged new album, a few drum flourishes and vocal cues are the only indication of this being King Gizz’s eighteenth album.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>Released with no singles ahead of launch, their shift in sound is unexpected, even for a band who two years ago released an electro-folk, ska album and a heavy metal record within months of each other. The soft, </span><em>Legend of Zelda-</em><span>like keys in </span><em>Shanghai</em><span>, filter vocalist </span><strong>Stu Mackenzie</strong><span> through a series of psychedelic, auto-tuned hoops. This track takes a note from 2017 King Gizz, featuring a seamless transition into the sleepy, morning dew of </span><em>Dreams</em><span>, an ‘80’s inspired keyboard ballad that sees that band incorporate synthesisers into their psychedelic cacophony. </span><em>2.02 Killer Year</em><span> later in the record reprises elements of </span><em>Butterfly 3000’s </em><span>A side, which, like the opening track </span><em>Yours</em><span>, features pulsing, bright, almost video game-like synths. These spontaneous sounds flow through the record tying together the quirky keyboard and guitar flourishes that ultimately end up as the most King Gizz feature of the record.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Inferior People</em><span> which fittingly recalls </span><strong>Ariel Pink</strong><span>, delves into </span><em>Fishing For Fishies </em><span>era King Gizz - a homage to their underrated record from 2019. This track basks in a sense of levity, as Mackenzie opts to diss, “</span><em>Inferior people, a lens flare in my subconscious, the gap of death, I no longer fear inferior people</em><span>”.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>As the record continues, King Gizz glance towards shoegaze to broan the sounds of </span><em>Butterfly 3000</em><span>. </span><em>Catching Smoke</em><span>, a gleeful highlight of the album, kicks off with the same shimmering synthesisers that </span><strong>Twin Shadow</strong><span> sprinkled across his song </span><em>Forget</em><span>, before Mackenzie and co twist into the sounds of shoegaze giants. The album’s closing tracks, </span><em>Ya Love</em><span> and </span><em>Butterfly 3000</em><span>, capture the cute and bizarre spirit of the record. These tracks flow into each other, creating a dazzling, key-led soundscape against Mackenzie’s vocals and minimal instrumentation.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>Though </span><em>Butterfly 3000 </em><span>may be their least experimental feat to date, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s delve into the world of dream pop is moody and ethereal. This change of pace may be a foil for longtime fans of band, but luckily for them there’s no doubt that King Gizz have another three albums ready to go.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>- Sean Tayler.</span></span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3244133050/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/butterfly-3000">Butterfly 3000 by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard</a></iframe>