"Interloper" is a fantastic psychedelic rock album from an emerging, flourishing band. Every song on this record is memorable and enjoyable to listen to, and the band finally seems to have sunk into their own identity with this release, making themselves stand out from their contemporaries. Contemporary psych rock is dominated by artists with heavier, punchier sounds (think King Gizzard, Osees, and Ty Segall), but Holy Wave reminds us that psychedelics aren't always about crazy ... read more

I described "Freaks of Nuruture" as a more refined sound for Holy Wave. Unfortunately, "Adult Fear" feels like a bit of a misstep in that regard. This record is a great example of how production choices can strongly influence the way a record sounds. Things sound pretty messy and unclear on this album, especially the drums. They're so echo-ey. There are also moments where the keyboards simply feel too loud and overbearing, especially on the title track.

I also found the ... read more

Two years after "Relax," Holy Wave returns with a more refined sound. The sound is refined in two different ways. First, the songwriting. Each song is more of a story this time around, with more varied sections and less repetition overall. The songs are also a lot less derivative this time around. "Relax" was filled with a lot of gentle nods to other infamous psych rock bands, but Holy Wave really finds an identity of their own with "Freaks of Nurture." But, even ... read more

"Relax" showcases Holy Wave's ability to capture the spirit of psychedelic rock music in it's many variations and flavors, and the whole experience is tied together nicely in a record that flows well. The production on this album is drenched in reverb, which can be rather polarizing. Indeed, I haven't decided whether I like the dripping-wet production style or not. It gives everything a dreamy, ethereal feel to it, but it also makes everything less clear, especially the vocals. I can ... read more

In my review of "leaving meaning.," I talked about how that record marked the beginning of a new era for Swans (it's literally a different lineup of musicians), and how the band had to find their footing again. "The Beggar" demonstrates that the new band has sunk into their group chemistry, and this record cements itself among some of Swans' greatest masterpieces.

Every Swans record is a little bit horrifying, but "The Beggar" deals with a subject matter we all ... read more

In signature Swans fashion, Michael Gira once again changes the lineup of the band to create "leaving meaning." For this most recent iteration of the band, Gira has stated that he wanted to organize a band of musicians most likely to create something unexpected. It's admirable that even as he approaches his 70's, he's still challenging himself to dive into the unknown as a musician. Swans could easily continue to explore the sounds they refined during the trilogy of records that ... read more

"The Glowing Man" is more than just a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy of 2-hour albums released under this specific lineup of Swans. The musicians on this record are giving their absolute best performance and, as is the case with every Swans record, it will leave you with an indescribable feeling. Out of the trilogy, I found "The Glowing Man" to be the most accessible, but that doesn't mean that Swans has gone soft. If anything, the band has taken the exhausting format ... read more

After listening to "The Seer," I knew I was going to be a lifelong Swans fan, and I was excited when I saw that "To Be Kind" was considered to be the second in a trilogy of 2-hour albums by the same lineup. I discovered that "The Seer" is best experienced straight through, so I decided to set aside two hours for "To Be Kind." I wanted to give this album my attention, and I'm so glad that I did. This album changed me. It's one of the most psychoactive ... read more

"The Silver Cord" is the longest King Gizzard album, but there's a lot of repeated content. The entire second disc is comprised of extended mixes of the songs from the first disc, which are some of the band's shortest on average. I understand this was primarily done for marketing purposes. A 21 minute song isn't likely to get radio play or make it into a spotify playlist, but if you condense the most structured part of the song into 3 minutes, it'll fit. I won't belabor the point, but ... read more

I was extremely grateful to see King Gizzard return to the thrash metal sound they flourish in with "PetroDragonic Apocalypse." This record demonstrates that, though the band had been experimenting with softer, poppier sounds throughout the past few years, they had still probably been working on heavier stuff all the while. This is another one of King Gizzard's strongest records, showing that the band still has steam left in them even after releasing over 20 records in under a ... read more

"Changes" reminds me a lot of "Sketches of Brunswick East." It's much softer than the heavy, psychedelic rock that King Gizzard has come to be known for. The album tones back the guitar work in favor of more keyboard sounds, which gives the whole album a jazzier feel to it. Like "Sketches," this record also focuses around a single melodic motif, which keeps coming back in different ways. The first track is quite the journey, and definitely the highlight of the ... read more

In the metamorphosis of Swans, "Soundtracks for the Blind" was the band entering the cocoon, lying dormant for about a decade before re-emerging with "My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky," revealing a new, winged shape. However, "The Seer" is where the band learns to make use of these wings, and they soar to new heights nobody ever could have foreseen. This record impacted me just as much as "Soundtracks for the Blind," and by the time I had ... read more

When I heard that King Gizzard was making a 'sequel' to their weird, but enjoyable, "Made in Timeland" record, I was expecting more of the same. I expected to hear a pastiche of genre-bending madness condensed into thirty minutes. However, "Laminated Denim" is a lot more focused than "Made in Timeland," and only bears resemblance to it's older sibling in ways that gave the band freedom to explore something completely different. I enjoyed "Made in ... read more

Similar to 2017, when Stu Mackenzie proclaimed that the band would be releasing five albums in a single year, King Gizzard promised to release three albums in a single month. "Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava" is the first of these three. I've always said that King Gizzard is at their best when they focus an album on a single musical concept, and this album is focused on a clever idea I haven't yet seen from a rock band. I found "Omnium Gatherum" to be a ... read more

After listening to a lot of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, I've developed the opinion that this band works best when they focus a particular musical concept, as opposed to some kind of structural or marketing concept. "Polygondwanaland" and "Infest the Rats' Nest" are two of the band's strongest albums because they are so focused and committed to the musical ideas underneath. On the contrary, some of the band's concept albums that didn't really stick the landing for ... read more

"Made In Timeland" is a cursed record. Originally intended to be released on new year's eve of 2020 at a live event in Australia, it was stalled when the entire event was shut down due to health and safety concerns. The band had difficulty communicating about the release to their fanbase, leaving some to wonder whether the record really existed or not at all. Eventually, the album did see some initial releases at some of the band's live shows on vinyl, and it wasn't long before ... read more

I was pretty disappointed with the double-LP, "K.G." and "L.W." as a whole, but I hadn't given up on King Gizzard as a band yet. They had made so many good albums that I attributed the disappointment I felt to a mixture of my high expectations and the stress of a global pandemic (not to mention the fires destroying Australia at the time the double-LP was being recorded). King Gizzard is a band I follow in real-time (I wouldn't call myself an obsessive fan, but I always ... read more

I found "K.G." to be a pretty disappointing record from King Gizzard. However, I was still interested in what they would do next. The end of the closing track on "K.G." was a sample of a gust of wind (a callback to "Flying Microtonal Banana") that cut out early, causing everyone to speculate about whether "K.G" was actually the first of a double-LP. Turns out that this speculation was correct, and "L.W." is "volume 3" of King Gizzard's ... read more

After "Infest the Rats' Nest," expectations for this band were soaring. Things were made difficult for everyone when the lockdowns from the pandemic started, but King Gizzard didn't let that stop them from making another album. The first single to be released from this record was "Honey," and everyone was excited to see that the band was picking up the microtonal guitars again. Indeed, "Flying Microtonal Banana" always had a peculiar subtitle on the cover art: ... read more

After the upbeat, jammier songs on "Fishing for Fishies," I don't think anybody was expecting King Gizzard to release something like "Infest the Rats' Nest" during the same year. This is one of the most refined projects in the entire band's discography. It's a highly-focused concept album that pushes the band's sound into yet another genre of music. However, though this is the band's first thrash metal album, it doesn't sound like they're merely experimenting with the sound. ... read more