King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: Omnium Gatherum

- So, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Here we find ourselves. Twenty albums deep after just over a decade. What is there to say about King Gizz that hasn’t already been said? Very little to be perfectly honest with you. This album can be seen as a compilation album –of sorts– with tracks that weren’t destined to grace other records of their past. This however doesn’t mean that every single track on this record is not entirely deserving of its place here. The best way to describe Omnium Gatherum would be exactly as the name suggest: a collection of random things. What kind of lunacy kicks off with the lead single being an eighteen-minute track which begins by lulling you into thinking you’re about to sink away into a calm, folk-driven piece, then almost immediately hits you with what I can only describe as chaos. I absolutely LOVE chaos! The Dripping Tap is truly one of the strongest songs that King Gizz has ever released, and I don’t mean this based on the sheer audacity of releasing a lead single that is the length of an EP. I truly believe that this mammoth song is amazing.

For context: I am a Gizzhead. I have been more many moons. I’ve seen them multiple times, I own every single studio album they’ve ever released (and other oddities) and have even had the pleasure of a backstage pass at one of their live gigs once. A friend of mine often recants a tale where she ran into Ambrose Kenny-Smith coming out of the loo and got to ‘feel his warmth’ on the toilet seat. Disgusting, yet understandable. King Gizz are just one of those bands that transcend reality with their fans, this is how they’ve managed a global following of rampant fanatics. Their prolific output and mental live shows leave you wanting more. And more. And more. And more. I could literally go on, so I will. The consumerist beast tears through your skin with the incessant desire for more Gizz. Mercifully there are now twenty studio albums and a multiplicity of live recordings to dive into with these guys to satiate your rabid appetites.

What do I say about Omnium Gatherum? I love this album. End the review here. This album is wonderful. Buy it on digital. Buy it on cassette. Buy it on vinyl (duh…), buy the bloody CD if they make one. See them live and live your goddamn lives to the fullest. Love yourselves! Listen to King Gizz and enhance your lives, because if you’ve felt that something has been missing, it’s most likely this. I’ll mostly be focusing on The Dripping Tap for this review; however, I can easily confirm that the rest of the album is one of their best releases since their golden era of I’m In Your Mind Fuzz and Nonagon Infinity. I’ve read that the tracks on this record were written around the time of Fishing For Fishes, which was a rapturous call to arms to combat climate change, if you actually listen to what they’re singing about. Infest The Rats Nest follows on from this trend, just in a different style. I think I read that the Gizz boys also willed these songs into existence at the same time as their Melburnian contemporaries Tropical Fuck Storm were jamming with them and managed to forge Satanic Slumber Party from the rubble. If you’ve not got onto that EP, which features King Gizz, then you need to immediately. Stop reading this review, go and watch the mental music video that they both did for the second track on the EP, Satanic Slumber Party Part 2 (Midnight In Sodom). I missed out on being able to buy this particular record because of a time zone glitch, but whatever. God bless the digital revolution. Seriously. Go and listen to this absolutely bonkers tune. If you’re a fan of Nonagon Infinity era Gizz, you’ll love this. For those not so versed in the Gizzverse: if you like microtonal madness, and screamy weirdness then you’ll get a mad kick out of this. Even if you don’t, just give it a once through to support Aussie music and turn that shit up to eleven!

I’ve already rambled on too long about this, but I seriously cannot recommend this album highly enough, however I must stress that you should not go into this record looking for any kind of sanity or continuity. You won’t find it here. This record is above all things a compilation of many sounds that the Gizz boys have explored for the past few years. If you’re a seasoned fan, you’ll love it, if this is the first taste of King Gizz, perhaps start elsewhere. That’s my honest opinion on this one. This is not the entry point for a new Gizzhead. Start elsewhere. If you like weird psych vibes, start somewhere around I’m In Your Mind Fuzz or Nonagon Infinity. If you’re more into electronic stuff, start with Fishing For Fishies or Butterfly 3000. If you’re looking for a band to please everyone at a dinner party, play Infest The Rats Nest or Murder of the Universe to forever relinquish your aux cord rights. But seriously, if you’re trying to get into King Gizz, depending on what your tastes are, I’d start with their earlier catalogue. I like the funky psych stuff. I was first introduced to King Gizz with Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, which I didn’t love, it grew on me. Sense is an amazing song. It wasn’t until I discovered I’m In Your Mind Fuzz that the Gizz train truly left the station for me. Here we are, years later, a sycophantic acolyte, preaching to the masses.

Gizzverse confirmed.

- Arthur Henden