UOS NDSOF THE S CH UOS NDSOF THE S CH

Ursa Minor by Nana Grizol

-Clayton (Bower)

Dial Tone by Couch Dog

-Zack (Howland)

Cupid by Fifty Fifty

-Teah (Phoenix)

Ready to Be by Twice

-Rebecca (Howland)

Creative Differences (band)

-Abby (Orion)

The Drive by Everyone You Know -Sebastian (Raft)

V by Unknown Mortal Orchestra -Jake (Hedrick)

Out of Tune by The Backseat

Lovers -Jo (Orion)

Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill -

Lucinda (Apollo)

Music Review: Nonagon Ininity

Connor

Webster

Hello everyone, my name is Connor and I am here to talk about one of my favorite albums, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Nonagon Ininity King Gizzard and this album hold a very special place in my heart they made my two most hated genres, prog rock and the jam band, cool I rarely listen to bands like this I’m usually listening to either doom metal, Beatles-esque indie (hi Kevin Parker!), or underground country/roots music but the Gizzard scratches an itch for me that I don’t really get in any other albums or artists, and that’s embracing whatever ideas come to you and running with them in full force. A lot of you know who King Gizzard is, so I won’t bore you with the details (and if you don’t know, do yourself a favor and listen to this album), but King Gizzard is a rock band, to put it simply. Even that label does them a disservice—they’ve delved into so many genres in over 26 (!) albums in the last 13 years You can’t really put a proper label on them But we ’ re here to talk about one record, not the other 25, so let’s get to it

Nonagon Ininity is nine tracks and 45 minutes of some of the most loud, throttling, blood pumping, psychedelic, and visceral garage rock you ’ re gonna get There’s elements of punk, old school hard rock, prog rock, kraut rock, and psych with a touch of heavy metal in there as well. This album may have nine tracks with individual names, but don’t be fooled: they’re all a part of a larger picture. Each track seamlessly transitions from one to the next, with the inal track looping back to the irst track without any bumps (trust me, I’ve tried to ind the skip, you can’t it really is cool). And that brings me to the main concept since the album loops seamlessly, it’s more like a never-ending concert, the most sweaty, beer and LSD soaked concert you can imagine

The irst track, “Robot Stop”, is the band’s thesis statement for this record, both lyrically and musically The very kinetic and propulsive instrumentation that never strays from the odd timed 7/4 groove would be pretty hypnotic if it didn’t sound like it was a ritual summoning a mosh pit from Hell, wild and frantic guitar solos, howling harmonica, and somewhat sinister keys all sound like a satanic ritual. Even the lyrics join in, with vocalist leader Stu chanting about opening doors, being a robot, waiting for answers. It’s all pretty… satanic, even if the song is actually about how exhausted the band is from constant touring. I still love this groove though; it’s a headbanger's dream. You should get used to it, as it's a groove the band returns to again and again throughout this album.

We don’t really get to breathe before we ’ re hit with the next track, “Big Fig Wasp”, which is a song about how wasps are in a ig Weird The 7/4 time signature is still here, but the groove morphs a little The melody is catchy as hell, and there’s a lot of really cool eects on the vocals, but it mostly plays o the groundwork of the opening track. It has some cool guitar feedback throughout before we ’ re thrust back into the groove from before

“Gamma Knife” has an insanely catchy harmonica ri along with some foreboding, ascending chords and lyrics about milk and honey, wanting youth, the unborn self am I the only one noticing that these lyrics are simultaneously hilarious and frightening? There’s also a drum solo it fucking rules “People Vultures” hits us o with a sinister guitar melody and some more hilariously frightening lyrics about someone or something spewing something down… who knows man, it’s fucking weird. It’s almost kind of snide in how the lyrics are delivered. Stu is talking about having to create art constantly while the “people vultures” are constantly begging for it. Oh wait, I think I get it now.

“Mr. Beat” is a fun track that modulates between 7/8 and 8/8, which the lyrics cheekily reference I love this groove, the organs, and the ascending and quirky bassline during the verse Before we go into the next track, “Evil Death Roll”, we get a strangely blissful segue using harmonics; it’s nice I’m not gonna lie, “Evil Death Roll” is not my favorite track on the album The same formula from the rest of the album is there, with noisy guitar, sinister chord progressions, and weird rhythms, but it all seems a little bit too much on this track. The melody seems kind of thrown together, the shrieking guitar feels like it’s too noisy and brittle, and the song just kind of meanders a bit before transitioning into the groove of the next track as a teaser and then going back to the melody from the end of “Mr. Beat”.

“Invisible Face” is this kind of odd meter bossa nova garage rock track with another killer bassline. It’s one of my faves due to how dynamic the track is, as well as the way that the chord progressions never really resolve before the end and transition into “Wah-Wah”, which is more of that psychedelic weirdness that I enjoy There’s also a zurna on this song, which adds this really whacked out and wild layer to the song ’ s instrumental The album’s last track, “Road Train”, is, to put it simply, fucking badass The groove sounds like a train coming from Hell just to cause mayhem and chaos wherever it goes, which the lyrics reflect it’s literally a song about Satan conducting a train from the ninth circle of Hell just to cause destruction, and I love it.

I love this album. It’s incredibly detailed for how loud and chaotic it is, and the themes of being on the road, the creation of art, and the perception of art are incredibly engaging. This is much more than a balls-to-the-wall heavy psych record: it’s about how art, its creation, and how it’s sold, and how it’s perceived takes a mental toll on artists, no matter how much they enjoy making that art It can be an endless cycle, and I think that’s what the band is trying to convey on this album