Look beyond King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard’s prolific songwriting and you’ll find an appetite for unearthing talent, for seeking concealed abilities which mightn’t have seen the light of day. Melbourne is a bottomless music well and King Gizzard’s annual extravaganza, Gizzfest, is traversing its deepest stretches. 2016 saw the genesis of the container stage where the likes of Moontown Records, Aarght, Panache Booking, and hometowners Flightless strutted their stuff and in 2017, the concept returns but it’s been amplified.
An additional 17 bands have been added to the bill from a year ago, so to break it all down for you; to introduce you to some of these burgeoning music talents, we’ve put together a stage by stage guide to Melbourne’s leg of the groundbreaking festival.
Main stage
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Mild High Club, The Murlocs and Orb need no introduction but when we explore the discographies of Kikagaku Moyo, La Luz, Leah Senior and Parsnip, eyebrows will twist and curiosities will rumble. Off the top is Kikagaku Moyo. The Japanese purveyors of trembling psychedelic rock are three albums deep and would prefer to perform in the dark. Nonetheless, they’ll be in the light and their incessant, almost harrowing, musicality is sure to be a spectacle. La Luz are a surf rock outfit out of Los Angeles who embellish their beachside psych with echoic melodies from across the board. Having recently worked with garage beast, Ty Segall, this will be a treat.
Leah Senior is a Flightless friend who just unveiled her debut album, Summer’s On The Ground. A beautiful folk voice you might’ve heard uttering on King Gizzard’s Murder of the Universe and Polygondwanaland. Parsnip appeared on the 2016 Gizzfest lineup just months after their formation and are an archetype of Gizzfest’s philosophy of exposure. They’ve gone from strength to strength in 2017, having just released their debut 7″.
Hysterical Records
Hysterical Records don’t muck around. Behind an ethos of diversity, the music commune has put together a stellar group of bands and for Gizzfest, they’ll be represented by Suss Cunts, Hi-Tec Emotions, Pleather Purbs and Hexdebt. This stage will be a display of helter skelter, riotous rock. Leading the way, Suss Cunts will bring their visceral and energetic punk while Hi-Tec Emotions are wave explorers fusing synthesisers with hazy guitar. This container will be battered.
The Curtin
Lygon Street’s pre-eminent music residence is divulging an assortment of music palettes for its debut Gizzfest foray. Loose Tooth are one of Melbourne’s most enjoyable live acts. Their garage pop sound will have you jiving right off the bat while LAZERTITS are your Aussie cult punkers, enveloping all the patriotic narratives in one tight five-pronged parcel. Stiff Richards, Closet Straights and Moonlover will also be performing, traversing pub rock, garage and pop genres across the three. Take your pick.
Aarght Records
The boys are back for another year and this time they’re bringing along Leon & The Freedom Cage and Rabid Dogs. Ooga Boogas’ Leon Stackpole leads the charge and he’s more cynical than ever. There’s Batpiss and then there’s Rabid Dogs – gritty sludge rock is the breed. Next up is Slab Knackers. A link to their Bandcamp was shared on Eddy Current’s Facebook page, who knows what’s in store. Rounding out Aarght’s container is Akubra and comedy legend Aaron Gocs.
Anti Fade Records
Anti Fade is like Aarght’s older brother who tries to keep their fledgling understudy in check. Retro rock gives you Bananagun while Gonzo is a less polished version of OCS (aka Thee Oh Sees) with garage hooks for days. Dive deep into the Geelong undercurrent and exhume garage revellers Vintage Crop who are super raw but super fun and to cap it off come The Faculty and Planet Slayer. New wave precedes rock’n’roll.
The Tote
Rich Stanley will have his hands full orchestrating two stages this Gizzfest and its behind the Tote that we’ll hear from the likes of Jacky Winter, yes Jacky Winter, Private Function, Sweet Whirl and Umbilical Tentacle. Winter’s a legend around town having worked alongside the likes of Brendan Huntley, Davey Lane and Ella Thompson so this will be special. Short-fused punk and you’re at the doorstep of a Private Function while at the other end of the scale, Esther Edquist gives you ambient lo-fi as Sweet Whirl.
Wondercore Island
Get all the buzzsaw guitars out of your system and head on down to the electronic sands of Wondercore Island. Dancing xylophone patters are ensconced by wandering bass and that’s just the start of Clever Austin – intangible. HTML Flowers is as much an artistic project as it is music driven and labelling it electronic hip hop just doesn’t do it justice. Mangelwurzel favourite, Jaala, will be there again but this time without a guitar – think techno and you’ve got Jaala vs Man.
Moontown Records
There’s one name on the Moontown Records bill and that’s The Moontown Improvised Orchestra. While your bopping to Mild High Club’s Skiptracing, navigating the haze of Orb’s Migration or losing yourself to King Gizzard’s Robot Stop, this family sized music pizza will be out here slicing and dicing all day long – it’s non stop. I’m thinking members of School Damage, Dreamin’ Wild, maybe Orb’s Zak Olsen for this one.
Shaky Memorial
Well Shaky Memorial have sorted us a treat well and truly. When you can follow up the all-girl power of Suss Cunts and LAZERTITS with Bitch Diesel, the lineup’s grandeur is solidified another notch. Warped are bona fide rock lords having skirted the circuit on and off for 26 years. Easy Browns Truckstop Chicken Jam Band are a huge barrel of garage fun while Grinding Eyes are Gizzfest favourites, having appeared at the inaugural incarnation – drone rock which’ll melt the container plastic.
Bank Records
Probably the quietest, no fuss label in Melbourne’s underground is Bank Records. Their little live stage out in Preston is somewhat of an enigma but this container won’t be operating so passively. Tasmanian talents Treehouse will bring their guitar twang while the Sydney multi-instrumental project of Greta Balog is Greta Now and it’s bedroom lo-fi wave to shroud the senses. Jazz will be there too.
Flightless Records
Flightless head honcho Eric Moore is put together his own stage too. Emerging psych pop band Baked Beans just unleashed their cracking debut single ‘Plans’ with infectious hooks for days – the perfect lunch option. Another project of Orb/Frowning Clowds legend Zak Olsen comes via Traffic Island. It’s sporadic rock’n’roll so don’t miss it.
