King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Paper Mâché Dream Balloon

Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015)

This album is as far away from Nonagon Infinity as you can imagine, with the concept of the album being an all-acoustic record. The tone is almost the total opposite, with light acoustic strumming and flutes rising and falling. All in all, sounds like a modern day “Village Green Preservation Society”. The first track, “Sense”, starts off with a strong, almost soul, groove, with a smooth clarinet playing the hook. The vocals seem to fade into the background, creating a totally mellow atmosphere that will remain for the majority of the album. “Bone”, the second track, picks things up a bit with an irresistible guitar hook. More instruments enter the fray now, with some deep brass lines coming in through the pre-chorus into the chorus. The album’s middle portion is more of the same, in all honestly. The shift in tone doesn’t come until later on in the record, which may turn off some new listeners. “Dirt” isn’t anything spectacular, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a short, catchy song that sets up what is, in my opinion, the standout track on the album.

The title track of this album does so many things right that it’s hard to fault it. The soft, descending flute lines in the verses coupled with delicate acoustic guitar give a sense of a calm before a storm. When the chorus kicks in, the flutes carry the main melody, creating what sounds like a nursery rhyme written by Jethro Tull. The next standout track, for me anyway, is “N.G.R.I (Bloodstain)”, which is probably the most energetic song on the album. The driving drums, constant piano drone, and some of the most tasteful harmonica playing I’ve heard create a totally unique feel from the rest of the album.

The last track on the album is an interesting one, even if the last thirty seconds sound like a Soundcloud mashup at times. The is essentially an overture of the album, with a guitar, bass, and flute trio playing four bars from each track on the album. Certainly an interesting choice to put such a track at the end of the album. The last thirty seconds, however, are total madness.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity

If you’re not familiar with this band, I’ll give you a short rundown of what they’re about. They are a 7 piece, Australian psych-rock band who formed in 2010. In the seven years they have been together, they have released no less than 12 albums and 2 EPs. Due to their prolific writing, they have managed to develop an extremely devoted cult following, which may seem intimidating to a new listener, but it’s a surprisingly welcoming community. The band have recently been experimenting with a concept driving writing style, and this album is no different. 2016’s Nonagon Infinity promises the listener an “infinite album”, with seamless changes from track to track. This may sound like a pretentious promise, but upon listening to the album you’ll be convinced otherwise. What is most surprising about the album is that there is no song which sounds inherently like the “beginning” or the “end” of the album. Any track can be picked to start the listening session, although I personally suggest starting with the B-side first. The first track of the B-side, “Mr. Beat”, draws inspiration from funk and soul roots, with a dash of math-rock. From there, the tracks build up in intensity and tension, peaking with the uncomfortable yet irresistible groove in “Wah-Wah”.

The following track, “Road Train”, provides a brief respite from the prog-rock madness, only to deliver what sounds like a budget “Iron Maiden” verse, but in a good way. It has to be said that I feel “Road Train” is the weakest track on this record, the style seems to sit in an entirely different environment from the rest of the album, however, it is by no means a bad song. Going on to the A-side, we are bombarded by 20 minutes of some of the heaviest, grooviest music to have come out in recent memory. Going from “Robot Stop” to “Big Fig Wasp” the transition is almost unnoticeable. The following track, “Gamma-knife”, is a fan favourite. Although it is a great song, it has just never quite clicked with me in the same way as the rest of the fan base. “People-Vultures” is another fan favourite, but this time I’m not the odd-one-out as I feel like this song deserves all of the praise it gets. The vocal melody is one of the catchiest on the entire album, providing a less intense end to the A-side of the record. You should definitely give this one a listen, especially if you’re a fan of Heavy Metal acts in the vein of Black Sabbath.

Overall Rating: 8/10

 

 

American Pie – Don Mclean

Don McLean’s sophomore album from 1971, although having one of the most recognisable title tracks in rock ‘n’ roll, is an interesting journey through the many styles which McLean explored. It’s easy to disregard McLean as a one-hit wonder, as American Pie easily outshines the rest of his releases, this doesn’t mean that his other songs are “bad” though, in fact, quite the opposite.

What might not be immediately apparent is the depth of the lyrics in the title track: “American Pie”, particularly in the verses. For what feels like an up-beat tune about McLean’s idea of America, many parts of the lyrics reveal direct references to the popular music of the time. “The day the music died”, the famous pre-chorus line, refers to the newspaper headline on the 3rd of February 1959. On this day, music legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” tragically died in a plane crash. McLean was only 13 years old at the time, and working as a paperboy. It was this headline that inspired him to start writing “American Pie”. Other lines in the song can even go as far as sounding bitter, such is the case with the line “Moss grows fat on a rolling stone” which is McLean’s criticism of Rolling Stone Magazine and its supposed lack of engaging content, some things never change obviously. Another is his supposed jab at John Lennon, “Lennon read the book of Marx,” referring to the communist ideals hinted at in Lennon’s song “Imagine”. I’d like to apologise for analysing the fun out of a great song, but it’s what I do best.

The rest of the album seems to take an early “Paul Simon” style, with mellow acoustic guitar coupled with unconventional rhythms on the vocal melody, certainly an interesting change from the sing-along title track. This style keeps up until the song: “Everybody Loves Me Baby” which seems to draw inspiration from the song writing of 50s rock ‘n’ roll, perhaps an homage to the late Buddy Holly. All in all, this album is a prime example of how artists used to arrange their albums with vinyl in mind. Great thought has been put into making the songs flow naturally into each other, as well as occasionally having a shift of tone on the B side of the record. Listening to this on vinyl is certainly a unique experience, and I would encourage anyone to add it to their own collection. Its a thumbs-up from me.

Overall rating: 8/10