King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is quite possibly the only band making music that sounds as strange and off the wall as their name does. Working their way from the fuzzed out garage rock tunes of “12 Bar Bruise” to the jazzy psychedelia of “Quarters,” it’s readily apparent that no genre is out of reach for the band. Similarly, KGATLW’s discography is chock-full of oddball album concepts like last year’s technically never-ending “Nonagon Infinity” and 2015’s “Paper Mache Dream Balloon,” composed solely with acoustic instruments.
It’s no wonder the band’s latest endeavor, “Flying Microtonal Banana,” both explores a sound and concept entirely new to the group’s discography. Named after band leader Stu Mackenzie’s bright yellow custom guitar, “Flying Microtonal Banana” marks KGATLW’s first foray into the realm of microtonal music making — a style defined by containing very small intervals or tuning that differs from Western 12-tone equal temperament. Through its use of this style, “Flying Microtonal Banana” introduces a familiar yet subtly different flavor in its instrumentation than that of many western musical contemporaries.
This is abundantly clear on tracks like “Melting,” a low-key bout of electronic psychedelia. Here, Mackenzie’s custom guitar is put on display, laying out simple jazzy riffs full of steady and rapid plucks alongside erratic pitch-shifted chords with a distinctly microtonal air. This pairs incredibly with an array of microtonal synths pulsing and wavering alongside the band’s organic instrumentation in tonal harmony.
Working with elements of non-Western music that can best make use of the album’s microtonal stylings, KGATLW’s already diverse instrumentation expands even further on this latest work. Ear-catching examples include the bleating sounds of a zurna — a Eurasian wind instrument — on nearly every track, lending an air of hectic intensity and commanding the listener’s attention during the more fiery moments of “Flying Microtonal Banana.” Though zurna music’s extreme tempo and irregular composition may appear abrasive within the context of Westernized psychedelia, it tastefully melds into the similarly composed style of “Flying Microtonal Banana.”
Though “Flying Microtonal Banana” does feature its microtonal styles prominently, it in no way relies on them to drive the album entirely. The trademark lo-fi style of KGATLW remains pronounced on the album while undergoing several transitions to further differentiate it from the band’s earlier works.
The production on “Flying Microtonal Banana” is incredibly vast — each track creates its own unique and expansive soundscape. This is accomplished masterfully through the mixing of the album’s guitar sections, which are treated with a healthy amount of reverb and given plenty of room to breathe within each instrumental. This lets their groovy sound blossom outward to envelop each track rather than overwhelm it.
Though normally an afterthought on many KGATLW projects, the album’s songwriting shines on several tracks. Take “Billabong Valley” — a track with possibly the clearest Gizz lyrics to date as it tells the spaghetti western tale of an outlaw named Mad Dog Morgan. Though this isn’t a wholly original concept, the song is meticulously constructed and displays a wonderful bit of the band’s progression into ballad writing.
Conversely, “Doom City” describes the polluted skies of Beijing as a mythological god of death, cryptically stating “When Doom City air this way comes / He, Empyrean / Breathes from his mouth and over tongue.” Coupled with the distorted guitars and screaming zurna instrumental, the ominous storytelling transforms the song from a dark psych rock ballad to something more akin to ancient folklore.
There’s rarely a dull moment in the runtime of “Flying Microtonal Banana” — an impressive feat considering multiple tracks clock in at over seven minutes long. Though it may lack the nonstop aggression and wild experimentation of its predecessors, “Flying Microtonal Banana” presents the classic styles, energy and fuzzed production of KGATLW alongside a healthy dose of microtonal funk.
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