King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard: Butterfly 3000 Album Review
By: Alexander Briseño
Tags: Synth Pop, Music, Review, Band, Rock

King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard: Butterfly 3000 Album Review

If you can see the hidden image, you have my deepest respect. Photo from Gizzverse.

The consistent Australian rockers are back with their seventeen studio album, Butterfly 3000, released on June 11, 2021, through KGLW. King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard is Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, flute, sitar), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), Lucas Harwood (bass, keyboards), and Michael Cavanagh (drums, and percussion). Since their inception in 2011, they’ve released multiple albums every year, with five albums being the most they’ve produced. To my knowledge, no modern band does such a thing.

The announcement of Butterfly 3000 was silent; King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard released one post on their social media saying they’re releasing a record titled Butterfly 3000 releasing on June 11, no singles, melodic + psychedelic, and cross-eyed autostereogram. After the post, they published a bevy of photos of the album recording sessions and mass-production of the records. Once June 11 came, every piece of information of Butterfly 3000 dropped, and Gizzard fans rejoiced.

Photo from Instagram

I discovered this band this year after many years of indifference. Setting my ignorance aside, I gave them a listen and discovered my new favorite band. These guys are astonishing musicians: The guitars are sparse and fluid, tight percussion and drums, and alluring falsetto vocals.

Besides being a proficient band, they like to experiment, and they do it well. King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard have experimented with Surf Rock, Blues, Thrash Metal, Spaghetti Westerns, and Psychedelic rock, yet they always return to psychedelic rock. Butterfly 3000 is a departure from psych-rock to a synth-pop-driven album with high arpeggiated synths, poignant acoustic and electric guitars, dreamy drums, and the vocalist is digging deep into his falsetto to produce lush harmonies. The leading man and vocalist, Stu Mackenzie, went in this direction because of how he felt about the novel virus and the birth of his daughter.

During the pandemic, I’ve had times of productivity, but then also just extreme discontent–like, ‘What’s the point in doing anything?’ So my daughter has been a nice arrow to point through this whole crazy time, and something to just reorient any negativity.

Mackenzie told Stereogum. He continues by saying:

The impetus for Butterfly 3000 extends back to the ambient interludes we created for the band’s 2020 concert film/soundtrack, Chunky Shrapnel, whose arsenal of vintage Moogs and newer Eurorack synths formed the bedrock of the new record. The synth we were using has really rudimentary sequences that are just random combinations of notes. We were drawn to the off-kilter amounts of notes–these weird time signatures coming from the synthesizer, rather than drums.

Those ideas come to fruition on tracks such as “Yours,” “Shanghai,” and “Catching Smoke.” “Yours” has a whistling synth, a cheerful guitar riff, punching drums, and Stu’s beautiful falsetto. My favorite part is when the acoustic guitar kicks in, reminding me that there’s bliss in the world. “Shanghai” opens with an Arabian-inspired synthesizer beat, rapid drums, Stu’s harmonious vocals, and a pretty guitar over Ambrose Kenny-Smith falsetto. Then we have “Shanghai,” capturing how it feels to not travel after being kept at home for months. Last, “Catching Smoke” which would become one of King Gizzard’s most distinguished songs and the record’s highlight. “Catching Smoke” has a rapid Arabian-inspired synth key, thumping drums, and catchy vocals. It’s a fun track delivering plenty to keep you satisfied.