Number 4: Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Nonagon infinity opens the door
Release: April 29th, 2016
Genre: Progressive Rock
Favorite Tracks: Mr. Beat, Gamma Knife, Robot Stop
Where I heard it:
Growing up, my musical affinity mainly revolved around material that was made decades ago. One unforeseen consequence of my outdated tastes was that many of the groups I loved most were either defunct, or well past their prime for touring. That didn't stop me from making the most of what I had, but I had a realization during the pandemic that current music was not, in fact, the demon spawn of Satan, and there was plenty to discover among active modern groups. Nearing the end of lockdown restrictions, I grew closer with a friend of mine named Aspen, who I bonded with through the absence of a mutual friend during his tenure in the military. Music was a regular point of conversation between us, and around the spring of 2021, they asked me if I had ever heard of the band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. The name alone caught my attention, and Aspen was persistent that I give them a try. I headed to Spotify to peruse the top songs from King Gizz, starting with their most popular: Work This Time off Oddments. My first impressions were a bit underwhelming, considering the excitement of which Aspen had recommended this band to me with. After listening through Oddments, I jumped over to their 2015 album Quarters!, which piqued my interest in King Gizz significantly more than my previous endeavor. It was around this time where I made the same realization many newcomers have encountered in their fandom: these guys have a lot of albums. By mid 2021, the King Gizz discography was just short of twenty entries. There were periods where they would release five albums over the course of a single year, an unprecedented pace that boggled my brain. Realizing what I had gotten myself into, I understood the daunting task ahead of me: I had plenty of catching up to do. My third foray with King Gizz, I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, was when things finally started to click for me. This album was the bait that snagged me hook, line, and sinker into the wild world of the weirdo swarm, a vast and mystifying realm that still felt ripe for the plundering. I immediately sought out connection with the King Gizz community, heading over to the subreddit to further educate myself in my newfound knowledge. Having most recently heard I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, the unanimous opinion according to the official King Gizz flow chart was to continue on to the album Nonagon Infinity, which expanded upon many of the ideas introduced in its predecessor. Needing little persuasion, I dove head-first into Nonagon Infinity, and as far as I can tell, I've never hit the bottom. I could write you an entire essay on just about any of the now twenty-six albums King Gizz had made, but from a conceptual perspective, Nonagon Infinity is one of the most innovative and groundbreaking pieces of music to be released in the 21st century. Come along with me as we take this adventure together; it's one I never get tired of trekking through.
It's just the same I know
When can my body work
Cold static overload?
My body works I know
It's just the same I know
My only difference
Is robot influence
I'm up here for the weirdo swarm
I'm the door when you come for more
~ Robot Stop
What to expect:
When it comes to expectations for King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, it's best to check them at the door. Any description of King Gizz isn't one-size-fits-all, given the expansive and frankly astounding range of genres that the band has covered. Each album is a new opportunity for this prolifically talented band to experiment with a different sound or concept. Craving acoustic indie-folk music to chill to? Try out Paper Mâché Dream Balloon. Looking for something heavier with thrash metal inspiration? Give Infest the Rats' Nest a listen. How about something more electronic and synthesized? Butterfly 3000 has you covered. If there were any group that truly caters to all tastes, King Gizz is certainly it. This brings us to Nonagon Infinity, an earlier album of theirs that houses a familiar garage rock sound the band commonly revisits, but with a few quirks to set it apart among other installments. From a musical standpoint, Nonagon Infinity is a high-energy thrill ride that comes strong out of the gate and seldomly pauses to catch its breath. While they have no true frontman, multi-instrumentalist Stu Mackenzie stands out among the group as a qualified candidate for this position. Providing all the vocals for the album, Stu gets the ball rolling on Robot Stop with his trademark 'woo's and shrill microtonal guitar riffs. "Amby" Kenny-Smith injects another healthy dose of charisma to the band's wacky persona, assuming responsibilities on the keyboards while occasionally ripping soulful harmonica solos during Robot Stop and Gamma Knife. Additional guitarists Joey Walker and "Cookie" Craig act more as a jack-of-all-trades, adding to the chaotic frenzy of strings while filling in on supporting synthesizer in tracks like Evil Death Roll. Rounded out by the resonant bass tones of Lucas Skinner and the clamorous drumming of Michael "Cav" Cavanagh, Nonagon Infinity is intentionally muddled with an incredibly low fidelity filter in an attempt to soften the sheer gusto and intensity of the overall performance. You'll notice early on that King Gizz has a noticeable aversion to common time signatures, a trait that not only persists throughout Nonagon Infinity, but indeed the greater collective of King Gizz albums. These guys aren't afraid to venture off into more complex territory, jamming out seldomly used beat patterns like 7/4 in Robot Stop, 9/4 in Big Fig Wasp, and 3/4 in Gamma Knife. Surprisingly, none of these grooves feel forced together, perfectly merged into a mathematic wonderland that carefully links each phrase. Speaking of which, Nonagon Infinity faithfully preserves each song transition to run into the next, effectively making each track a piece of a larger conglomerate suite. Colloquially known as the Nonagon suite, the five tracks between Robot Stop and Mr. Beat all seamlessly run together before a brief rest in the action, resuming between Evil Death Roll and Road Train. This formula allows the members of King Gizz to exhaust nearly every possibility of this parallel jam session, effortlessly switching between musical motifs that creatively differ, but share the same soul. Nonagon Infinity actually takes this concept a step further in a way that I've never seen any other album do: the transition between the closing track Road Train and the intro Robot Stop is also uninterrupted. In essence, this means that Nonagon Infinity has no real ending or beginning - it's a constant loop that persists within the confines of its microcosm. I'll elaborate further on that detail in the next section, because that choice is such a huge reason why I fell in love with this album to begin with. All I'll say is this: make sure you click repeat on when listening to Nonagon Infinity...and make sure you're paying attention.
Keep on trucking hour by hour
One man is at the wheel
He's the dog at Satan's heel
Across the desert to the trees
Obliteration of the place
From the fire into the sea
Nonagon infinity is coming
~ Road Train
Why it's my favorite:
In only three short years, I went from, "Who the hell is King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard?", to "Wow, King Gizz is the shit!". There's so many qualities that make Gizz such a loveable band, from their charming Aussie dialect to their palpable love for the material they create. Other selections such as the recent PetroDragonic Apocalypse and the aforementioned I'm In Your Mind Fuzz came very close to snagging this spot, but ultimately Nonagon Infinity is still King Gizz' magnum opus to me. Its reprisal of key verses tells a narrative through the music, not necessarily through its lyrics. There's even allusions to riffs that appeared in previous releases, specifically the shared hook between Robot Stop, Hot Water from I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, and Cold Cadaver off Paper Mâché Dream Balloon. The concept of interconnectivity, each song bearing relation and dependence to one another, an infinite loop that creates an overarching meta...that's the good stuff, man. It's a stroke of genius that I can't even begin to comprehend its engineering. It seems like only once every generation does a band come along to not only revolutionize the landscape of the music industry, but culturally impact a fanbase to the point of madness and infatuation. The best example of this phenomenon would be the Grateful Dead, a jam band that cultivated an entire subculture of nomadic fans, of which my mom and dad were both a part of. More recently, Phish fans have earned a reputation for their incredible passion and devotion for live shows. Nowadays, it really feels like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are gaining traction, setting them up to be the next epic band with an unwavering following. My first live experience of King Gizz came during their legendary Red Rocks residency in 2022, of which I was lucky to pick up a ticket to their newly added third show. I knew how good they were in the studio, but was nowhere prepared for the technical display they'd put on that night. I sat in pure awe watching them do their thing, silently losing my mind that I was in attendance for this spectacle. I've seen Gizz twice more since then at Red Rocks, and I'm scheduled to see them three more times this year when they return to the magical venue. Why am I so gung ho about seeing Gizz? Well...I haven't heard the Nonagon suite live yet. And I really, really want to. With a backlog as extensive as theirs, I can't be too shocked by that. But I'll take any chance I can get, even if it's to the tune of three straight concerts. Nonagon Infinity represents the beginning of this beautiful journey into an extended universe of music that is amazing in its own right, but completely changes how I perceive music. Each release is a continuation of the episodic format that King Gizz has so diligently plotted, treating fans to all kinds of secrets and easter eggs to uncover within. Take it from someone who was on the outside not long ago: you need to listen to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. They're on the cusp of something magnificent, and I wouldn't want you to be left behind in the eventual rapture.
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