Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, KGLW 2022.
These guys are legends. They are without a doubt the most prolific band I’ve ever come across.
This year alone they’ve released five albums and in doing so have broken almost every rule in the book, but they do it with such class and panache that it works and sets new standards for other groups to attempt to emulate.
I think the closest anyone has come to what King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are doing was the outrageously talented Frank Zappa and he came nowhere near releasing the quantity of material that the boys from Melbourne have achieved.
Frank Zappa was known for his inventiveness and that is exactly what KGLW seem effortlessly able to achieve.
I’m sure that it’s not easy being so creative.
It takes more than talent.
It takes plenty of hard work, substantial patience, and highly developed interpersonal skills.
Being in a band is hard work by itself let alone being in one that sets up a crippling work regime that involves constant improvising.
But it seems that this is exactly the sort of environment that KGLW thrive in.
This seven-track album shows just how talented they are as musicians and writers.
In fact, they are highly skilled at all aspects of writing and recording music.
On Changes they traverse various genres from modern jazz improvisations to the outer-orbits of indie rock and back again.
This is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard at their best.
It’s intelligent, sophisticated, and superbly performed. But once again they seem to do it so easily.
It’s hard to nominate a favourite track because every time I listen to the album, I change my mind.
The opening and closing tracks Change and Short Change are great experimental pieces, No Body and Gondii are outstanding indie rock cuts and Hate Dancin’ is a homage to Zappa.
They’re all fantastic.
If you are yet to get into KGLW then this may be a good album to start with.
