Song of the Day: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Gamma Knife

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Gamma Knife” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard from their 2016 album, Nonagon Infinity, on ATO Records.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Gamma Knife (MP3)

It's a safe bet that Nonagon Infinity will be one of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's best albums this year. You can also bet that it will be one of the best albums by anyone this year. The new LP by the 7-member Melbourne band, whose sound is as delightfully crazy as their name, follows two very different albums in 2015, the first being the jazzy psych jam Quarters!, whose four songs divide the album perfectly into 10 minute and 10 second quarters, and Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, an all-acoustic, flute-filled head trip. Released mere months later, Nonagon Infinity carries on the band's aural journey while also forming its own endless loop, designed to flow song to song, and end to beginning, without sonic breaks. The band's instructions: "Play it on infinite loop." And, after hearing the first single, and today's featured song, "Gamma Knife", you'll want to do just that. Nonagon picks up the electric eclecticism of the pre-Paper Mâché albums and adds rocket fuel to their already combustable mix of too many guitarists and drummers to play it safe.

You won't have time to buckle in, as King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are blasting through the U.S. on tour, starting this week, and crash-landing at the Gorge for Sasquatch on Monday, May 30. You can find out where else they'll be by checking out their website and Facebook page. Also, be sure to watch the mystical, druid-filled nonagon in the official video for "Gamma Knife":