Flight b741 suggests this ridiculously prolific band from Victoria’s Surf Coast was raised on a steady diet of classic American rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s (think: early Steve Miller Band, The Doobie Brothers and The Band).
King Gizz have dropped 26 studio albums since 2012 and, according to frontman Stu Mackenzie, they’ve already “made a dent” in number 27.
Harmonica and honky-tonk piano and blues-infused guitar, oh my! Even when “winging it”, King Gizz sound first-class.
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“What does the sunlight feel like on your skin?/ Does it smell like the sound of a pill kickin’ in?/ Or the taste of a song that makes you wanna scream?” – Raw Feel, resplendent with phantasmagorical imagery, celebrates our differences.
Sporting matching flight suits (see: “Oink Oink” Flight b741: The Making of…), all six members of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard crowded around two mics to record the walls of BVs that elevate this rollicking ten-song set.
All band members sing on Gizz’s latest record and their pass-the-mic lead vocal approach is aptly demonstrated during Le Risque’s film clip. Midway through this bass-throbbing number, prepare to be wowed by drummer Michael Cavanagh’s deep Sprechgesang parts.
Then you’d better fasten those seatbelts: “Helloooooooo, Evel Knievel!/ Running through the red light!” – Ambrose Kenny-Smith gatecrashes, snatching the mic.
“I’ve been drinkin’ on the job/ Not much thinkin’ going on about the passengers I got on board…” – aha, Sad Pilot be drunk AF! Despite upbeat, jaunty melodies – including gang backing vocals that chime in like cheeky inner voices – this highlight track, upon closer inspection, is lyrically harrowing.
Elsewhere: the glam-rock Field Of Vision (“I’m feeling like a horse on Ket”) is giving Primal Scream’s Rocks (choon!), Hog Calling Contest is as bonkers and shambolic as its title promises and charming “Shooby-doo-wop” harmonies add sophisticated lustre to the piano-driven Rats In The Sky.
“Find that person you hate/ Grab ’em by the hand, look ’em in the eye and say ‘I love you’/ ‘Cause they’re gettin’ fucked-up daily…” – seven-plus minute closer Daily Blues spruiks empathy.
As delightfully loopy as its cover art, which features a sounder of swine aboard an ancient aircraft, Flight b741 closes out with the sound of a whinnying horse.
Kenny-Smith has said he’s forever trying to channel Exile On Main St. – his all-time fave LP – and this latest Gizz offering probably flies closest to The Stones’ party album.
It’s actually not a stretch to imagine Flight b741 forming the basis of a madcap jukebox musical.
Fun fact: Flight b741 is not only the name of a Boeing 747 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1996, but also a classic-rock chord progression favoured in the ‘70s (which is utilised in Sad Pilot).
LABEL: P(DOOM) RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
