King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Before I go any further I want to be clear here that I have complete respect for everyone involved in this discussion. We’ve all been around long enough to know that prog is always a subjective, personal thing and individual definitions/boundaries will inevitably vary from person to person. I want us to have this debate because I do truly believe KGATLW have done more than enough to deserve serious consideration and attention from prog rock community, but more to the point I want that debate to be held in a way that is respectful, friendly and productive.

All that being said, I’m going to go into detail about exactly how and why I’ve come to my conclusions regarding this wonderful band, and then I’m going to walk away from this thread and leave it for others to decide. I know from past experience when I was considerably more active on this site (many moons ago!) just how tough it can be for collaborators and genre teams to make definite, permanent choices on a subject that is by its nature subjective, fluid and ever evolving. I don’t envy them one jot. OK, so with all that in mind, here goes…

I believe King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are, in their current form, by any reasonable definition, a progressive rock band. As I said earlier, they have been on a trajectory away from simplistic psych-blues/garage rock to out and out prog ever since I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, but even if you ignore ALL their output up to and including Nonagon Infinity you are still left with four unique albums, all of which encapsulate different elements of prog. The fact that all four of them came out this year (and supposedly with a fifth still to come), whilst impressive, is ultimately irrelevant. If those four albums had been put out by a different band over the space of several years, the argument would be just as valid as all four of them are, to my ears, out and out progressive rock albums. Let me explain why.

Flying Microtonal Banana

Strong krautrock influences throughout, unusual instrumentation (not just microtonal guitars but also traditional instruments such as the zurna), extended arrangements, unusual time signatures aplenty.

Murder of the Universe

Narrative/concept album comprising of three distinct “chapters”, with spoken word passages and longform arrangements. Increased use of synths. Though divided into shorter tracks, each chapter runs seamlessly and the individual tracks generally work as variations on themes rather than standalone songs - they could just as easily be three approx. 15 minute “epics”.

Sketches of Brunswick East

Meandering, jazzy psychedelia (very reminiscent of early Canterbury, IMO) with tracks generally bleeding from one to the next, giving a sense of cohesion. Another concept album {their second this year and their sixth overall).

Polygondwanaland

POLYRHYTHMS GALORE. Seriously, find me a single 4/4 passage in the entire thing! It’s arguably their most diverse record in terms of instrumentation/tone - plenty of flute, acoustic guitar and synths - ebbing and flowing between heavy and more acoustic passages. Pretty much no hint of that early “blues rock” sound is present on this one. Again, though divided into 10 tracks, it’s really four 10+ minute pieces (the last 3 comprising of 3 movements each, with plenty of reprises and reworkings of earlier themes as the songs progress). Also the closing track is pure Gong.

So yeah, you can literally exclude everything they’ve put out prior to this year if you want (not that you should IMO), and you’re still left with four albums by a band showing a clear determination to experiment freely with rock, pushing their own sound in new and unusual directions, whilst also paying clear homage to “traditional” aspects of progressive rock such as narrative concept albums, longform composition, atypical instrumentation and complex rhythms.

Personally, I would have said that’s more than enough to earn them a place on this website, but it’s not my decision to make. Sincere thanks to anyone mad enough to take the time to read this absurdly long post. Peace and love to you all.