Released: 2019

Genres: Boogie Rock, Blues Rock, Roots Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop

The Musiquarium’s Fishing for Fishies Review Score: 8 out of 10

Following 2017, in which King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released a whopping five albums (all of which were excellent), the prolific Australian rock band is back at it again, with the environmental boogie rock of Fishing for Fishies. 

The shuffling title track is a peaceful anti-fishing plea that P.E.T.A. would be proud of. Boogieman Sam puts the boogie in boogie rock. On The Bird Song, Stu Mackenzie questions “To a bird, what’s a plane?”, alongside a nice piano groove. The ZZ Top boogie-woogie of Plastic Boogie has the band addressing the wayward plastic pollution that’s exponentially growing globally, with a group vocal of “Fuck all of that plastic”.

The Cruel Millennial is the album’s Kenny Ambrose-Smith song, with plenty of his trademark harmonica (though it appears through much of the LP). The bluesy Real’s Not Real is one of the harder rocking songs here. Joey Walker takes lead vocals on This Thing. As the penultimate track, Acarine begins to shift away from the more traditional sounds of the album with its synthesizers, making way for the robot rock of Cyboogie.

You’d think that their 14th album in 8 years would have the band burnt out or running out of ideas, but Fishing for Fishies is yet another inspired and authentic venture into new territory, with the band sounding as revitalized as ever after their brief (one year) hiatus from recording. Though it may not quite crack their top five records (something that’s becoming harder to do with each release), Fishing for Fishies is still fantastic fun.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on Discogs.

Back to the 2019 Album Reviews Guide or the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard