LAMINATED DENIM

Consisting of a pair of 15-minute tracks, Laminated Denim is The Gizz's second album of October 2022 and their fourth of the year overall. "The Land Before Timeland" is archetypal KGLW with sunshiney vocals, jazzy, jammy guitars, and that distinctive honking harmonica. Some of the jamming is nice, but it ultimately doesn't quite reach the heights of their best work. The closing two minutes feature some striking instrumental interplay, however. This probably could have been trimmed down into a stronger nine-minute song. The other song, "Hypertension", channels Polygondwanaland quite clearly. The vocals and compositional choices call to mind that album's overt progginess. The instrumental parts here have some lovely space-jazz flavors to them, though it can occasionally drag on longer than needed. Much like the previous cut, "Hypertension" has a thrilling climax, and it could have benefitted from a little trimming.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/12/26/odds-ends-december-26-2022/