Live Review: King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs

The Murlocs play a distinctive style of bluesy R&B that is at once completely faithful to its roots and also entirely new, and at this show they proved just how on top of their game they are. Three months on from releasing their debut LP, the band are tighter than ever, and each song shone thanks to a perfect mix. Beginning with the upbeat Paranoid Joy, the set gradually grew in intensity – both in volume and fervour – with the more complex Control Freak grabbing attention in the second half, and culminating in Jukebox, wherein they were practically battering their instruments around the stage. The best way to hear The Murlocs is absolutely live; the only thing wrong with the equation this time was that the pristine Newtown Social Club seemed like not nearly a grimy enough watering hole for their smutty, evocative tunes.

It’s still amazing to witness the incredible productivity of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Famously releasing an album every six months for the past few years, the band used this opportunity to show off the songs that will make up their next record. The first featured propulsive droning bass line and drums, overlaid with squealing guitars and harmonica, which rose and fell in intensity over 15 minutes (including some nifty Dick Dale guitar soloing). Unlike previous longer jam-based songs, this one was blindingly fast, keeping bodies moving, and was coloured with just a little chaos. This mood blended seamlessly into the next song, an almost New Wave-y track. Regrettably, an extended guitar intro meant that the riff had lost its edge before the song began, but thankfully this one wasn’t another 15-minute jam. For the next song, frontman Stu Mackenzie produced a flute and perfectly complemented a busy psych-rock bass line in a dark, smooth ballad with an irresistible guitar lick in the chorus. Head On, its riff perhaps the band’s most recognisable, is still a thing of beauty, and it received a luxurious, slowed-down rendition, soaking up the atmosphere, while in Pill it got the madcap, thrashy, frenzied resolution it deserved.