Lizard Wizard, listen to this album with headphones on. The level of detail and inventiveness is evident throughout. However, with seven highly skilled multi-instrumentalists (not to mention a frontman who can play the zurna, mellotron, and sitar with ease), critics were proven wrong with the release of Gumboot Soup. It’s more song-oriented than album-oriented.”Īlternatively, many scoffed at Gizzard’s grandiose goal to release five studio albums in one year, having doubts that quantity would become priority over the quality of each song. And for me, some of my favorite songs of the year are on the fifth record. In a recent interview with Consequence of Sound, frontman Stu Mackenzie described Gumboot Soup as a “place for us to put a lot of different ideas that we’re trying to experiment within the song, rather than within the whole record. With that being said, while lyrically these songs tend to tell winding and unconventional stories, what’s most impressive here is the level of musicianship throughout each song. “Beginner’s Luck” opens the album in classic Gizzard fashion, with whimsical lyrics about “dollar signs in your eyes” and other slick casino-isms.

Gumboot Soup lives up to its name – a stew of psychedelia, grunge, odd time meters, and everything in between. Talk about a New Year’s Resolution that you can stick to. But King Gizzard delivered just in time, unveiling an impressive eleven track collection on their Bandcamp page.

With the denouement of 2017 swiftly approaching, fans were beginning to question if the final record would be released as promised by the band’s frontman, Stu Mackenzie. With the releases of Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe, Sketches of Brunswick East, and Polygondwanaland, the seven-piece Australia-based ensemble finally dropped Gumboot Soup on December 31st, accomplishing the goal they set for themselves at the beginning of this past year. For King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, releasing five albums in one year is no laughing matter.

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