Rating: 3.0/5.0
Australian jam band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard leave the realm of psychedelic rock, indie pop and metal and return to their roots in blues rock and boogie – with a dash of glitter rock. The band’s latest album Flight B741 is the 26th entry in their growing discography and serves as the flagship KGLW release for the band’s own record label P(doom) Records. While the album is another solid entry in the band’s catalog, Flight B741The shortcomings of leave listeners wanting more.
After the releases of the derivative in 2023, albeit entertaining PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: A Destruction of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnationand the disappointing synth rock album The Silver Accord, Flight B741 is a breath of fresh air. Finally, the focus is on an intrinsic style for the band – instead of worrying about the details of getting the sound of a certain genre “right” – Flight B741 is bursting with joy and charisma. Rather than exploiting a specific musical style, this decisive return to KGLW’s jam band roots showcases the pure joy of making music and is fully manifested in the powerful sound of this record.
The three leading singles, “Le Risque,” “Hog Calling Contest,” and “Field of Vision,” best exemplify the spirit of the LP. “Le Risque,” in particular, brings the song to life with its infectious drum beat, thumping bass line, and bold lead guitar. The authenticity of the track and the album as a whole recalls acts like T. Rex, Grateful Dead, and Heart, and continually affirms KGLW’s musicianship—as if releasing 26 very different albums in twelve years didn’t already reinforce that notion.
The droning harmonica on “Flight b741” and the nervous piano on “Hog Calling Contest” further enhance the album’s authentic character. It’s these little additions that showcase the band’s keen understanding of music and each other. Perhaps it’s this dedication to the medium that enables KGLW to produce such diverse albums at the rate they do. Of course, this knowledge would not be achievable without pure, unbridled passion for music.
While the instrumentals take center stage on the record, frontman Stu Mackenzie’s vocals naturally take a back seat. Although he mixed the album himself, Mackenzie’s vocals – as well as those of the rest of the group’s backing vocals – are consistently lost among the bombastic instrumentals. This is perhaps the only thing that makes the album stand out. Flight B741 doesn’t sound like it was ripped straight out of the 1970s. While it can work on albums like KGLW’s alternative-indie record Butterfly 3000the dense swamp of vocal filters drowns out Mackenzie and detracts from the otherwise sophisticated style of the album.
The lyrics – at least the ones you can understand despite the mix – are neither inspiring nor bland. KGLW continues its trend of writing songs with an environmental message, with “Antarctica” criticizing those who ignore climate destabilization by sympathizing with the humble but powerful polar bear (despite the fact that there are no polar bears in Antarctica).
Unfortunately, while generally well-written, many of the tracks blur together – and not in the way the band had hoped. When playing through, the tracks are barely distinguishable from one another. You have to have a keen ear to notice when one track switches with the next, especially on tracks like “Daily Blues” which switch in the middle.
Despite some pitfalls, Flight B741 is a fairly entertaining record. However, once the album ends, it leaves no impression. While the genre change couldn’t have come at a better time for the chameleon-like band, Flight B741 leaves the listener a little dissatisfied – but still excited about what comes next from the shape-shifting magicians from Melbourne.
