7. King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard - Nonagon infinity

...And now for something completely different: Slightly psychedelic prog-rock from Down Under. The ridiculously prolific and also talented dudes in King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard have released their eighth album in five years, Nonagon Infinity, and it's constructed like an endless loop. Not only do all the songs flow seamlessly into each other, with recurring motifs and smooth transitions, the end of the album also links back to the beginning. So it actually encourages you to listen to it many times in a row, to actually use that totally redundant "repeat" button. And for me it was about halfway through third loop that I realized: this is pure genius.

Epic, but still with a touch of self-irony.

It's heavy, relentless, fun and exciting. The seven-man band attack you with never less than three guitars at the time, and it's all virtuosic and tight even when the time signatures get crazy and the more psychedelic elements take the front stage. Considering the incredible output these guys have had (and their ninth album Flying Microtonal Banana is out Feb 24. next year), almost the most impressive thing about Nonagon Infinity is how urgent it feels. There's no sense of assembly-line production of songs at all. All the songs have strong hooks and are more than worthy of a place on the album, there are no filler tracks at all. Not even any filler passages - I think their previous albums had some of those droning, noodly passages that just went on forever, but there's nothing of that here, it's tight and slick and it's going places. There's also enough variation on this album that it doesn't just turn into a soup - the Gizzards know exactly when to turn it down a notch to give us a breather (the 7/4 delight of "Mr.Beat"), or when to throw in a new shocking element to keep our interest spiked (some weird turkish flute called a zurna on "Wah wah").

I must admit I haven't listened much to their back catalog yet, and I'm not entirely sure I will. What I've heard sounds at least close to as good as Nonagon Infinity, and one list I read ranks Nonagon Infinity as their second best album, after Float Along, Fill Your Lungs. I guess it's just limited how much music like this I need in my life. I didn't realize it, but right now I needed Nonagon Infinity. The amount of coding I get done a day when I have Nonagon Infinity on repeat is just awesome! It may be noisy at times, but the intensity, repetition and drive make it a totally hypnotic listen, and I can zone it out if I want. But once I turn it off, then the magic is broken! So the only way to go is to keep listening.

What is it with psychedelic rock and these colors?

By the way, just an anecdote to show how hilariously Australian they are: Here's their list of tour dates from their Facebook page: "25 NOV BRIS 26 NOV MELB 29 NOV SYD 3 DEC ADE 4 DEC PER"😄

Back to the music. There's a sci-fi feeling on the album, like a dark and epic story, yet set in a world with room for fun and experimentation. I don't know where I get that from, I haven't had a look at the lyrics, but songs like "People-vultures" and "Road train" have a futuristic feel to them. Still, that's the vibe I get. The songs feel a bit like acts in a play, maybe some kind of burlesque, colorful sci-fi opera, and the different movements just feel like scenes. And it's very down-to-earth and silly - for every semi-serious lyrics like "Nonagon infinity opens the door, wait for the answer to open the door", we get a "It's a winged machine, it's a fig wasp! Big fig wasp!!"

The drumming is frequently amazing, both by keeping the band tight in those 11/8 time signatures, and when the two (!) drummers step to the front, like for the solo-battle on "Gamma knife". Influence-wise, there are links here from the early heavy-rock bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, newer psychedelic rock like Pond and even Motorpyscho, stoner rock, but also plenty of bluesier, funkier, or folkier moments. So it never gets stuck in the genre's decades-old tropes, but manages to sound fresh and new. It's got its gimmick, the infiniteness, which actually really works, and I can't imagine it not being novel. But also beyond this there's an album worth hearing for its quality. Give it a listen if you like good rock music, there's so much fun to be had!

Best tracks: "Evil death roll", "People-vultures", "Mr. Beat", but seriously, the album is a full package.