King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (often abbreviated as KGLW) are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The current line-up consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards, saxophone), Cook Craig (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, vocals), Lucas Harwood (bass, vocals), and Michael Cavanagh (drums, vocals). The group are known for their extensive discography, genre experimentation and energetic live performances.
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (often abbreviated as KGLW) are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The current line-up consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards, saxophone), Cook Craig (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, vocals), Lucas Harwood (bass, vocals), and Michael Cavanagh (drums, vocals). The group are known for their extensive discography, genre experimentation and energetic live performances.
The members grew up in the Deniliquin, Melbourne and Geelong regions of Australia. Before forming King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Mackenzie and Craig played together in the band Revolver & Sun, while Kenny-Smith and Lucas Skinner performed in Sambrose Automobile. Mackenzie, Skinner and Cavanagh were also members of The Houses. Some material later recorded by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard originated during this period. Mackenzie, Eric Moore and Walker met while studying the music industry at RMIT University. The line-up was initially fluid before stabilising with Mackenzie, Walker, Moore, Kenny-Smith, Cavanagh, Craig and Harwood, with Kenny-Smith joining in 2011. According to Mackenzie, the band's name was chosen for its deliberately absurd nature. Artist Jason Galea has created the artwork for all of the band's studio albums and most of their music videos.
The band's first releases were the self-issued singles "Sleep / Summer!" and "Hey There / Ants & Bats" in 2010. In 2011 they released the EP "Anglesea", followed by the garage rock EP "Willoughby's Beach". Their debut studio album, "12 Bar Bruise", was released in 2012 and was self-recorded using unconventional recording techniques.
In 2013, the group issued their second album, "Eyes Like the Sky", a spoken-word concept album narrated by Broderick Smith and written in collaboration with Mackenzie. Later that year they released "Float Along - Fill Your Lungs", which marked a move towards psychedelic and folk-influenced music. In 2014 they released "Oddments" and "I'm in Your Mind Fuzz", the latter introducing more structured songwriting and themes relating to fantasy and mind control.
In 2015 the band launched Gizzfest, a music festival held in Australia. They released "Quarters!", which consists of four tracks of equal length, and the acoustic album "Paper Mâché Dream Balloon". Their eighth album, "Nonagon Infinity", was released in 2016. Designed as a continuous loop, it won the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album and brought the group wider recognition.
In 2017 the band released five studio albums: "Flying Microtonal Banana", "Murder of the Universe", "Sketches of Brunswick East", a collaboration with Mild High Club, "Polygondwanaland", and "Gumboot Soup". "Flying Microtonal Banana" introduced the first instalment of a series of microtonal recordings using custom instruments. "Polygondwanaland" was made available free of charge, with fans and independent labels encouraged to produce their own editions.
After concentrating on touring in 2018, the band released "Fishing for Fishies" and the thrash metal album "Infest the Rats' Nest" in 2019. The latter received a nomination for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album at the ARIA Music Awards.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the band postponed tours and released the concert film "Chunky Shrapnel" and a live album of the same name. They also issued several live recordings through Bandcamp, with proceeds supporting charitable causes. In August 2020, Eric Moore left the group to focus on managing Flightless Records. Later that year the band released "K.G.", the second entry in their microtonal series.
"L.W.", the third microtonal album, followed in 2021. The same year they released "Butterfly 3000", an album centred on modular synthesiser loops. In 2022 the group released "Made in Timeland", "Omnium Gatherum" and three albums in October: "Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava", "Laminated Denim" and "Changes". During this period, Mackenzie temporarily returned to Australia for treatment related to Crohn's disease.
In 2023 the band released the live collection "Live at Red Rocks '22", documenting a series of performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. They later issued the albums "PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation" and "The Silver Cord", which were conceived as complementary works. During the same year the band made archival releases available on streaming services under the name Bootleg Gizzard.
In 2024 the group launched their own record label, p(doom). Its first release was "Ill Times", a collaboration between Kenny-Smith and Jay Watson. The band's twenty-sixth studio album, "Flight b741", was released in August 2024.
The twenty-seventh studio album, "Phantom Island", was announced in 2025 and released on 13 June of that year. The accompanying tour featured a mixture of rock performances and orchestral concerts conducted by Sarah Hicks, with local orchestras appearing in each city. During 2025 the group contributed material to charity compilations, licensed songs for the video game "Ultrakill" and announced additional tours featuring rock, orchestral and electronic-oriented performances.
In July 2025 the band removed their catalogue from Spotify, citing objections to the business practices of chief executive Daniel Ek and his investments. They simultaneously adopted a pay-what-you-want pricing model for their music on Bandcamp and released additional volumes in their demo series.
The "Phantom Island Tour" concluded in December 2025. The group announced a hiatus from touring until August 2026, when they were scheduled to return for "Field of Vision II". In March 2026, the band shared footage from a recording studio session with Billy Strings, leading to speculation regarding future musical projects.
Throughout their career, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have explored a wide variety of styles, including garage rock, psychedelic rock, folk, jazz fusion, progressive rock, heavy metal, synth-pop and electronic music. Their lyrics frequently address environmental themes, while fans have used the term "Gizzverse" to describe recurring connections and motifs across the band's releases.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Gizzard_%26_the_Lizard_Wizard
Studio albums
12 Bar Bruise (2012)
Eyes Like the Sky (2013)
Float Along - Fill Your Lungs (2013)
Oddments (2014)
I'm in Your Mind Fuzz (2014)
Quarters! (2015)
Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015)
Nonagon Infinity (2016)
Flying Microtonal Banana (2017)
Murder of the Universe (2017)
Sketches of Brunswick East (2017)
Polygondwanaland (2017)
Gumboot Soup (2017)
Fishing for Fishies (2019)
Infest the Rats' Nest (2019)
K.G. (2020)
L.W. (2021)
Butterfly 3000 (2021)
Made in Timeland (2022)
Omnium Gatherum (2022)
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (2022)
Laminated Denim (2022)
Changes (2022)
PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)
The Silver Cord (2023)
Flight b741 (2024)
Phantom Island (2025)
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…shrink me down again