King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's third album found the band of psychedelic seekers in a typically exploratory mood. After the country & western diversion of Eyes Like the Sky, the group went back to making an unholy hash of its influences, eating them whole and then spitting them back out in what was quickly becoming trademark fashion. "Head On/Pill" kicks the record off like it was kicked off a cliff; it spirals on and on with whirling shards of guitars, pumped-up rhythms, and yelped vocals. It lasts for 16 minutes, but not a single second of that time is dull. After that blow to the solar plexus, the album stays weird. "I'm Not a Man Unless I Have a Woman" is loping funk-blues with vocals fed through a busted echo pedal, "30 Past 7" takes an excursion into inner space soundtracked by sitars and banjos, "Let Me Mend the Past" is a rollicking soul ballad with some seriously pleading vocals, and the title track is sumptuous dream pop that closes the album on a blissful note of peaceful psych. The album sounds like a band searching for its footing as its members try any and every style that comes to mind. The results would probably be a complete mess in the hands of most groups, but anything seems possible -- if now somehow preordained -- in the capable mitts of this crazed collective. They would get better quickly, but even baby Gizzard is effortlessly cool and definitely worth digging into. ~ Tim Sendra
- Format: Vinyl
- Genre: Rock
