King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s second album of 2023 is their most severe left turn yet. The Silver Cord has them ditching their guitars, basses, drums and microtonal instruments and picking up a wide variety of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers to dabble in a wide variety of ’90s styles: techno, “electronica,” house, acid house, jungle/drum-and-bass, and more. But it’s still clearly made by King Gizzard and full of their trademarks, from frequent “WOOOOs” and growls that sound like a digeridoo, to the clearly impressive musicianship. “We’re in uncharted waters, we’re further out to sea, but leaning into it,” says frontman Stu McKenzie. “We got to a spot where we were really happy with what came out.” King Gizzard are clearly having fun with this, and that translates to the listener, too. It’s a fun album.
The Silver Cord comes in two forms: the “regular version of the album” which clocks in at a mere 28 minutes (one of their shortest), and the “extended version” which stretches out all the songs to over 10 minutes each, coming in at a whopping 1 hr, 28 minutes.
The album’s out Friday, but in Australia where they’re from it’s already Friday, so both versions are up on their Bandcamp now and you can listen below.
King Gizzard will be back in the States in 2024 for a few special three-hour marathon shows, including two nights at NYC’s Forest Hills Stadium on August 16 & 17.
