An imaginary masterpiece from 1974.

From the moment, in mid-August, this signer realized that it was the last moment to finally write the first text about the Australian group King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - since it became clear that the then published album Flight b741 has a particularly important place in their career - this band already managed to announce a new release the other day. No wonder, since the one we're showing is exactly the twenty-sixth in a row since the debut in 2012 (an average of two a year, and in 2017 and 2022 they released as many as five!). That's the danger with this Melbourne line-up - they evolve, change and release new music at the speed of the internet, faster than we can give it a fair listen and description.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is one of the more unusual alternatives Year phenomenon of all time. Members Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood and Michael Cavanagh are more or less buddies from the same area, who have remained together since the reunion in 2010 (only drummer and manager Eric Moore recently decided to quit) . The wider artistic circle around the group includes a few more permanent collaborators - among them designer Jason Galea stands out, whose creations form a perfectly wacky visual fabric, often on the edge of digital thrash, in which their equally wacky music releases feel at home.

It became clear over time that this was a completely unusual phenomenon. Each record brought a different style, so King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is still very difficult to classify as a genre, except as an original and extremely intense guitar band, from whom you never know what to expect: they recorded albums where imagination flourished in all possible rocker styles - from garage rock, through neo-psychedelic pop and heavy metal, from stoner rock, including the use of the theremin and other electronic instruments. In their tracks spread over various albums, the same characters appeared, so that fans would christen it all with the name "Gizzverse" - for a parallel universe in which the band constantly tells us new stories with heroes we have already met, some of whom are themselves members of the group .

Each release was surprisingly different, euphoric, witty and exhilaratingly alive, acting as a powerful antithesis to the state of stupor that the world's popular music scene has fallen into, clogged with epochal hyperproduction. With their wildly unpredictable action, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard preserved the enthusiasm for music as such and showed us how it is still possible to create it spontaneously, beyond all algorithms and calculations. Through the proverbially competent gig, they seemed to want to save a different genre of rock and roll with each of their albums... As a result, the number of loyal fans grew exponentially, and to this day they have become one of the most famous contemporary bands. underground cult phenomenon - more than just a band, on the verge of becoming a global movement.

One of the best proofs that King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard managed to save the music from wear and tear is certainly the latest project under the name Flight b741 – on which, for some reason, they apparently deliberately sound like the deranged grandchildren of legendary California hippie-icons the Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead are, quite possibly, the progenitors of the rebellion practiced by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. For many years, their existence provided a social foundation and a rallying point for the hippie and post-hippie community - just as the young heirs do with their community scattered across social networks.

MAGIC LIZARDS

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is a living study of the history of rock music, especially that of the seventies, missed through the focus of the 21st century. For them, rock 'n' roll is simply still important - dressing up in its many guises, KG&tLW bring it to life in a way that only today's kids can: they step into the roles of rock personalities as faithfully as possible, in an attempt to fulfill the promise of freedom that they brought. keep me alive. Looks like it is cosplay (costuming) – the only way to do it today.

Extraordinary Flight b741 is the best indication of how far they've come in their quest to keep rock and roll relevant. In a completely reverse process from the general digitization, the album was recorded by the band members plugging in their guitars without any pedals and through cheap amplifiers they started playing, combining voices and adding a harmonica. As they say in Field of Vision, mocking the intellectual approach to rock and roll and celebrating its fun nature - this is "silly billy"… Key songs: Mirage City, Raw Feel, The risk, Now Pilot, Daily Blues, and the title track, are epically sung and lavish, in a way we haven't heard from great historical bands in decades. Contemporary rock and roll in the version of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard doesn't sound tired, but bursts with life juices, you just won't believe that such a thing is still possible...

But it is possible! Flight b741 it seems like an imaginary masterpiece from 1974, a classic album that we should have heard, but - by some mistake - we didn't until now. As a "better past" that haunts us in our gloomy present of 2024, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard force us to straighten our spines, take a breath of air and at least once again enjoy life.

There is a great battle going on for the soul of music. The outcome is extremely uncertain, but if King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are on our side, it's clear that our odds of victory are much higher.

What you gotta do is find that person you hate
And grab ‘em by the hand, look ‘em in the eye, and say
“I love you”

(Daily Blues)