King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - L.W.
Critic Score
Based on 17 reviews
2021 Ratings: #223 / 753
User Score
2021 Rank: #563
Liked by 131 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Louder Than War

17 albums in, this is possibly their best work and they have finally honed their sound into their own. One of the best bands around in these dark times.

90
Gigwise

First with K.G. and now on L.W., King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have released the two ultimate King Gizz records.

82
Still Listening

L.W. is a hefty beast that more than holds its own. In fact, it’s quite possibly some of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s boldest and most rousing works to date.

80
Mojo

Prog-psych-punk sextet take satisfying third bite of the microtonal cherry.

80
Classic Rock

Great modern music. Get on your camel and ride.

80
Record Collector

The undeniable talent on display shows King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are no joke.

80
Uncut

Seventeen albums in, KGLW continues to expand and explore.

80
Clash
Perhaps one of their most intriguing musical collections to date.
80
Sputnikmusic

With their feet up on the couch and laurels well and truly rested upon, they’ve gifted us with L.W. which (excepting its sister record) is undoubtedly the most comfortable LP the group has released in quite some time.

80
AllMusic
It's not just a follow-up to their first mildly disappointing venture, it's a bracing reminder of just how thrilling King Gizzard can be at their peak.
75
Pitchfork

L.W. resembles K.G. after three additional months of lockdown: It’s more antsy, more angry, and less concerned about letting its gut hang out

70
The Needle Drop

King Gizzard reinvigorates its approach to microtonality a bit on L.W.

70
FLOOD Magazine
Using its practice and expertise with microtonal tunings from the aforementioned 2017 excursion, the Gizzards may have simply found a way to test weird new waters and write better songs on this half of the equation.
70
Exclaim!

L.W. may not boast many surprises, but it cements its makers as masters of their realm.

70
The Forty-Five

Like its counterpart, ‘L.W.’ enfolds you entirely in the idiosyncratic Gizzverse – and at the moment, there’s something highly enjoyable about being transported elsewhere.

57
Beats Per Minute

While listening to L.W. it’s hard not to stop thinking that they’re trying to repeat Flying Microtonal Banana, which is by no means a good quality as these thoughts drown out this new effort. Setting this to the side and trying to appreciate L.W. on its own terms, the best that can be said is that there are a few good tracks in an otherwise mediocre album.

Chode
50

King Midzard and the Lizzard Wizard

No matter your opinion on the band, you must admit that King Gizzard and The Wizard Lizard are one of the most untamable and musically fluctuating bands of the past decade, never settling into staleness. Through their prolific release schedule, the band has never seemed to run low on unorthodox album concepts. This was even the case with their run of albums in 2017, releasing 5 within the span of 11 months, yet having each feel unique in their own way. ... read more

eliiscool5
76

L.W. - A record unreasonably belittled by expectations.

Like the experimentation King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard or not, you have to admit that they are a band that respects artistry. Continuous innovations like Nonagon Infinity, Flying Microtonal Banana, even when King Gizzard has a consistent sound, they have always been testing with different styles and subgenres, perhaps such aspect is the reason for attracting so many listeners. Which, is also probably why people turned their back ... read more

PipePanic
63

Damn, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have come out with a pair of their kookiest concepts to date: they made two records about being extremely fucking boring!

Look, even for what i’m going to say about this record, I mean no disrespect to King Gizzard at fucking all. When you step back for a moment, it is an absolute goddamn miracle that King Gizzard has been this consistently good for this long. Think about it, in the nine years that King Gizzard have been around, they have not only ... read more

Ackbae
75

L.W. is in my opinion a much stronger counterpart to K.G., with more interesting directions that it takes itself and with many more bangers and just general intrigue injected into the track list. These two albums still aren't anything majorly worthwhile though, but this one at least has more of an identity and is plain and simple just more fun.

Favourite Song: See Me

Best: If Not Now Then When?, O.N.E., Pleura, Supreme Ascendancy, Static Electricity, East West Link,

Worst: Ataraxia

SoupAnd2Sticks
73

both an L and a W

-

Similarly to its predecessor, L.W. delivers a plethora of sounds while keeping a somewhat psych, microtonal baseline. Most of these tunes are rather nice and have a decent amount of personality... But just a decent amount. What this album brings with its playing quality and microtonal fun it loses with its songwriting. Some of the album is downright forgettable. This was the first Gizz album that came out while I was fan, so I remember these tunes super well, but that's ... read more

Boydove
84

Yeah I don't get why y'all hate it this much. There's so many fun songs on here

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Track List

1If Not Now, Then When?
3:50
81
2O.N.E.
3:40
84
3Pleura
4:11
79
4Supreme Ascendancy
3:39
79
5Static Electricity
5:49
80
6East West Link
3:08
75
7Ataraxia
5:17
76
8See Me
4:04
74
9K.G.L.W.
8:28
84
Total Length: 42 minutes

Year End Lists

#13/Louder Than War
#31/MOJO
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Added on: January 15, 2021