The prolific Australian alt-rock band touched down in Seattle on October 6th supported by Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Leah Senior. And when I say prolific, I mean it. KGLW has released 22 albums in the span of 10 years, two of which have been in just this past month while they’ve been on tour in the U.S. They plan to release a third this month, titled Changes, on October 28th.
Leah Senior took the stage first at The Paramount and played a short and intimate set with a full band. Her upbeat folk tunes gave a welcoming vibe as I walked up to the front rail and started taking pictures, but not the vibe I was expecting before the heavy and electric wall of sound that King Gizzard’s six members create onstage. I later realized that the theme of the night was set by the drastic change in genre as King Gizzard took the stage around 8:30.
KGLW started their set with five songs from earlier releases like K.G, L.W, and Flying Microtonal Banana. In songs like their opening track “Pleura,” they experiment with tuning their instruments outside of western music theory systems. Boldly opening with these experimental indie-rock hits showed off their diverse musical style right off the bat.
It was when they played “Magenta Mountain” from their 2022 release Omnium Gatherum that it started to hit me how truly radical they are when it comes to genre-flipping. “Magenta Mountain” calls back to 2010 indie-pop hits from the likes of Foster The People and MGMT. It was a surprisingly smooth shift from strangely-tuned guitars to an array of synthesizers, and this ended up being my favorite song of the night because of how seamless the transition was.
As quick as that vibe had settled in, it was demolished by three heavy-hitting tracks from their 2019 release Infest the Rats Nest and two more tracks from Omnium Gatherum: “Predator X” and “Gaia.” These two tracks are my favorite off of the studio album, emulating the energy and tones of 80’s thrash metal. The crowd was alive at this point in the night, and a pit quickly opened up stage right as the energy intensified.
The last three songs KGLW played were from their first release of this month, titled Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava. By far, these songs were the most undefinable of the night. A bit jazzy, a bit funk-inspired, and it seemed like this is when they did the most improvising of the night.
Around the 3rd song, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Eric, Jack, and Elliot from Bellingham local band Triacs! As it turns out, all of them are big fans of the Gizz, so I sat down with Eric and Jack to learn more about their love of the music.
“Gizzard is the kind of band that grows on you,” Jack commented. “When I was first shown Gizzard in eighth grade I thought it was weird, then two years later I went back and thought it was amazing.”
They’ve gone to four shows together through the years, including the Seattle show, and just a few days later the two-night event at Red Rocks, Colorado.
“The Red Rocks show was my favorite,” Eric said. “It was advertised as 2 three hour sets, with no repeat songs on any night…it really goes to show how hard they’ve worked. They can play six hours worth of material with no repeat songs, which is insane.”
“[I also admire] that before they step into the studio, it seems like they know every tiny thing they want to do,” Jack said. “…and have been doing it for so long live that they can record everything in just a few hours.”
The improvisational sound that KGLW possesses reminded me of the Deadhead movement in the late 80s, and a customer where I work even called them the new Grateful Dead.
“Yea, so many things about this band remind me of the Grateful Dead days,” Eric agreed. “It’s fucking awesome.”