PAPER MACHE DREAM BALLOON is the 7th album by Melbourne based rock band King gizzard and the lizard wizard, released 2015. But is it good?
So I've been a fan of king gizz for a while- I discovered nonagon infinity in 2018 if memory serves and I've been trawling through their intimidating discography since, So for the blog I thought I'd do three King Gizz records in a row- this one first, then 2 more, just to try and really get a flavour for what this band has to offer.
PAPER MACHE is a fairy unique record in a discography of generally unique albums- most king gizz albums are electric guitar driven, but this is the one album that isn't- in fact, the whole "thing" with this record is that every single instrument is acoustic- piano, double bass, fiddle, hell even the sitar gets a few notes in. So as you might imagine, this isn't exactly the most representative album in their catalogue, but that's not the question I'm here to answer.
The album opens with SENSE, which sets the tone for the whole record, acoustic guitar opens the song and stays throughout. Stu's vocal hook on this track is instantly catchy, the drums are layed back and the horn interims slide in just right. It totally works at evoking the whimsy folk of the 60s.
BONE, DIRT and PAPER MACHE DREAM BALLOON combine their short runtime and use of woodwind instruments to evoke sunshine pop outfits like the beach boys, with slightly more involved drums. The vocals are so soft that they just kind of float above the backing track like a blanket, and you can just kind of passively consume them in the song, like any other instrument. PAPER MACHE's chorus melody is so sweet, combined with lines like "Stuck in a daydream under a moonbeam" it's just easily a highlight on the record.
TRAPDOOR is this weird creepy song about a trapdoor, that kind of follows the annoying king gizz song writing formula of finding a word, then repeating it a whole bunch for a chorus with generally subpar verses. This is one of the better ones, but I got some funny looks when I was playing this at breakfast. Again, it doesn't go on for too long at just 2:38, but when there are 3 pairs of eyes staring at you it feels like alot longer.
COLD CADAVER is another highlight, with a fairly catchy vocal hook and good melodies against some disturbing lyricism, and some nice harmonica flourishes too. It's a good end to the first half of the record.
THE BITTER BOOGIE is probably the most unique track, not only because of it's 4:30 runtime but also it's focus on groove, with this repeating ascending riff. There's a cool switchup of lead vocals half way through the track too, with Stu stepping back to let one of the other guys take over.
N.G.R.I is another catchy track. with this frantic single piano note against some of the best harmonica on the album too. The hook might be the stickiest on the whole album.
TIME= FATE and TIME= $$$ function as part 1 and 2 of the same track, with part 1 having one of my favourite instrumental performances, but the vocals feel kind of singular just because of the effect they're run thru. Part 2, is much for free flowing, with drums too, but ends up being less memorable overall. but I do like the applause at the end.
MOST OF WHAT I LIKE starts with a cool bunch of tom hits, but alot of the track fails to be memorable, apart from a few good lines like "You always shut your eyes, When you look me in the eyes". It leads nicely to the instrumental outro PAPER MACHE which recalls a few riffs from earlier in the record, before ending in a really sweet and satisfying way. But then the last 40 seconds is like the entire album played at 10x speed in reverse, which kind of ruins the feeling of peace from the end of the track if you dont shut it off in time. But it's good besides that.
Overall, I think this is definitely one of king gizz's better records. It feels like one you could just have on in the background or sit down and listen to, with the chilled out sound pallette and nods to music of the 60s throughout giving the record a really unique identity from other king gizz albums. Check it out!
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