#Cook Craig

[junksterrr]

"Oink Oink” Flight b741: The Making of… || King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

i love the king gizzard merch store so much man who decided that this out of focus photo of the rhythm guitarist emptying a bin was the best way of advertising a teeshirt

[shanhorandraws]

My gatefold artwork for our King Gizzard Live in Chicago bootlegger! Included with a blog interview about it.

Interview here

[pascalishere]

I still don’t know which member of King Gizzard is which btw

[rovetrade]

double helping of gifs tonight because ive been consuming just absurd amounts of live gizz lately and well im just positively captivated by stu's incredible dances

[fungalcultist]

My fav white boy

[alteredbeaft]

cookie dawg as (what else??) a yellow labrador calico critter

[aquascopex]

girls just wanna have fun

[mentallyabsent08]

This is the first King Gizzard album release I’ve experienced since I discovered them earlier this year. I’ve never been more joyous for an album release ever (aside from maybe Trench back in 2018). I love these strange pasty Australian men

[junksterrr]

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard || Ambrose Kenny-Smith

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

king gizzard at la sirène, 30/08/23. photos taken by me on a fujifilm X30.

[threecatjamboree]

he has won my heart with his dopey grin and muppet rizz

[rovetrade]

happy birthday to the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth. her name is cook craig

[nofatclips]

Horology by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, live in Asheville 2019, from the deluxe edition of Polygondwanaland

[periontrost]

People vultures Ngl I dislike this piece a lot ahah would love to redraw it one day though.

[sinceileftyoublog]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Album Review: Flight b741

p(doom)

BY KEITH MILLER

Prophetic indie rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s 26th studio album Flight b741 features the Australian sextet at their most raucous, hootin’ & hollerin’, and rambunctious yet. From take-off to landing, Flight b741 is a true-to-form blues album wherein King Gizzard has passed the mic from band member to band member to give the traditional blues pattern a switch-up.

Across its ten tracks and roughly 40-minute runtime, King Gizzard delivers an enticing album that’ll pair well with cookouts, yard work, parties at a lake house, and all around busy and sweaty times outdoors. From its harmonic vocals and borderline goofy lyrics down to the various instrumentation of clanging pianos, bumping bass beats, and uplifting guitars, my biggest complaint about Flight b741 is that it didn’t come out sooner. Grab your sunglasses and put on a pair of jorts--anyone who’s claimed to like “Dad Rock,” this album is for you.

My initial highlight from Flight b741 is the vocals. Stu Mackenzie takes lead vocals on the majority of King Gizzard albums, with Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Joey Walker, and occasionally Cook Craig, grabbing the mic and singing lead. But this time around, each band member was given the opportunity to write their own lyrics and sing a verse in as many songs as they like. Lead single “Le Risqué” features drummer Michael Cavanagh opening his verse with a hearty, borderline maniacal laugh before diving into a verse describing himself as a “pathetic forgotten steaze” with a “tiny prick.” These off-kilter moments are scattered throughout the record. The second single, “Hog Calling Contest”, features the band snorting, oinking, and squealing in the mic as they quite literally go “whole hog.”

After every play through, I find myself going right back to the start so that I can relive each song and peel them apart. The opening track “Mirage City” describes a beautiful oasis wherein its visitors can escape their problems. It’s a phenomenal opening track that sets the tone for the rest of the album. With multiple movements featuring horns, harmonica, and loud guitars, “Mirage City” is one of the album's best tracks.

When I first put on the album, I was finishing up work and had just started cleaning my kitchen. One of the earlier tracks, “Antarctica”, was playing, and it gave me a little groove. There was a pop in my step as I was wiping off counters and putting away dishes. “Antarctica” lets you bop along as the lyrics sing, “It’s gunna be a miss / I can tell we’ve got a snowballs chance in hell.” While I was moving and grooving and cleaning up my tiny kitchen, I was suddenly and completely frozen in place as Mackenzie closed out the song with vocals that sounded eerily similar to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” And I loved it.

Flight b741 proudly shows its inspiration. There were multiple moments throughout the album that reminded me of Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a few others that harkened back to The Band. These moments are never too embellished. Flight b741 does a good job of keeping its listeners on their toes and giving the classic American rock sound a refreshing Australian twist.

After 12 years and 26 albums, some of us fans have to wonder, "How long can they keep this up?” King Gizzard is known for releasing a lot of music in a short time span. They’re known for leaning heavily into musical themes and gimmicks. From inventing new guitars for their microtonal explorations, to recording an entirely acoustic album, to making a jam band record that follows the classical Greek musical modes, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard know how to craft an album around a central theme or concept. Flight b741 has ten sturdy songs, three songs longer than their past four records, and if there is a gimmick, its that the band finally got to kick back and make some fun music with their friends.

Keith Miller is a writer living in Chicago who enjoys music, film, and literature. He’s helped a few startups in the Chicagoland area with their copywriting and blog posts. He is currently eating a sandwich.