K.G.

It was pretty cool to be able to walk into my local record store and pick this one up along with a couple of live ones from this band. "K.G." is my first post 2017 studio recording from this group and man it's a good one. I'm in the store which isn't well lit and looking at the album cover and seeing just these archaic looking pillars with a yellow background and I'm thinking which one is this? I look at the spine "K.G. Explorations Into Microtonal Tuning Vol.2" and I laughed turning it back over and only seeing the yellow KG on the cover.

And here is where I need to applaud Jason Galea who does their art work. He's like a young Travis Smith(sorry Travis) with a great connection to this band and what they are about and all the things GIZZARD, so it's all about the details with this guy and he has plenty of amazing ideas. The back cover if you turn it upside down is the same cover but at night(black). My first spin of this had me saying this sounds like the songs they left off "Flying Microtonal Banana". Turns out I wasn't too far off as "Flying Microtonal Banana" is Vol.1 and "K.G." is vol.2 hence the banana yellow KG on the cover. And thankyou GIZZARD for the detailed liner notes, very appreciative.

While a lot of this sounds like "Flying Microtonal Banana" that one was fairly uniform while on here we get some variety which doesn't always work out in my opinion. I also miss the zurna, that Middle Eastern sounding instrument that was on Vol.1. Top five includes "Automation" a great sounding track with those mono-toned vocals or robotic if you will given the title. Amazing sound though especially the guitar, bass and drums. "Minimum Brain Size" is my favourite and Joey wrote it and he sings on his own compositions. Check out the beats and sitar early on as the bass then vocals join in. I love this song! The microtonal stuff is incredible on this one. Such a feel good piece.

"Some Of Us" surprised me with an actual instrumental Swedish(my music) vibe contrasted with the more intense vocal sections. "Intrasport" is disco yet I can tolerate it and even enjoy it. Yikes! Hey it's the only track with mellotron and it has clavinet as well. This is not a top five though. "Oddlife" is. Humerous lyrics and catchy sound of course. Relentless beats and great vocals as usual. Lots of energy and check out the guitar. "Honey" is my final top five and probably my second favourite. Love that little guitar melody that's repeated as laid back vocals join in. Beats and bass take over but vocals return quickly. Again such a feel good tune. Makes me happy! "You you taste like honey". "The Hungy Wolf Of Fate" I mention for the SABBATH vibe contrasted with those dark calm sections.

I'm falling for this band, no it's been done and I know "Polygondwanaland" is where I say I do.