Album/Film Review: Chunky Shrapnel by King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Review by Austin Sher
What should’ve been one of the most legendary in-person experiences witnessing King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s feature-length concert film, Chunky Shrapnel, in theaters, quickly turned into an equally momentous occasion watching and listening from home.
Originally set to release in small theaters scattered around Australia, King Gizzard’s Chunky Shrapnel quickly transitioned to a VOD option using Vimeo. For the die hard fans, it was an obvious no brainer to hole up inside and watch it as many times allowed in the 24 hour period. Now that we’ve got Chunky Shrapnel available to stream digitally all over the world in audio format, it’s time to dig in and review this bad boy while us patient Flightless fans wait for our precious vinyl to be shipped out sometime in July.
The hour and 16 minute experience, featuring live recorded songs from their most recent tour in Europe, flows together as if it were one fluid show. It even features some new “tracks” such as Evil Star, Quarantine, and Anamnesis. We’re loosely saying tracks because they’re most instrumental tracks, but who doesn’t want more Gizz in their life, right?
Looking mainly to the proper tracks on the album, the opening sequence of The River into Wah Wah into Road Train is one of the most sonically pleasing and finest introductions into the band if you’re unfamiliar with how they operate. For the uninitiated, these songs aren’t on the same albums and nowhere even near the same genres, but they make it work as if they were. Chunky Shrapnel does mainly feature songs from King Gizzard’s discography that leans toward the heavier side of things. Even if you’re not a fan of that, as I once wasn’t, there’s no better intro than this album. You can feel the energy pumping directly into your ears and it makes you almost feel as if you were there the whole time.
The middle of the album mainly features tracks from 2019’s Infest The Rat’s Nest, and hearing these tracks live brings a whole new meaning to just how impeccable they really are. The string of Planet B, Venusian 2, and Hell could give someone a heart attack if they were prone to it. The high energy, precision, and laser focus it takes to pull these songs off are unparalleled. Obviously if you’ve ever gotten the chance to witness their greatness in person, you can clearly tell everyone is trying their hardest and they really don’t skip a beat when it comes to putting on a 10/10 show. Impressive is an understatement.
Perhaps the highlight of the album, in my opinion at least, is Ambrose’s wholesome performance of Let Me Mend The Past off 2013’s Float Along - Fill Your Lungs. Watching the performance is equally as wholesome as Ambrose eats up the crowd’s energy while delivering perhaps the best performance of the entire album.
Next up is the almighty trio of Inner Cell, Loyalty, and Horology off of 2017’s Polygondwanaland, perhaps one of the best albums in the 2017 5-album run. That’s to be debated for another time. But, the absolute madmen turn what’s already an amazing 3 song run into a spectacle on Chunky Shrapnel. Everything comes to life, the boys know they’ve brought you perfection, and it only gets better with repeated listens. It’s honestly difficult to comment on how perfect it really is because it sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard on any other album. It bends genres and evokes feelings you didn’t know you were capable of. I could talk about it in person for days.
Lastly, the 19 minute end to the album titled, A Brief History of Planet Earth, featuring all the members of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, ORB, and Stonefield. After an exhausting tour of melting fans’ faces all night, Stu needed some help from the openers to really close out the tour. Who’s going to play the music if Stu’s too busy stripping down to near nudity? A Brief History was really a blend of a medley of various songs and a massive goodbye to what will go down, at least maybe in their minds, their most successful tour to date. It’s fun to listen to for sure, but watching them have fun and wind down after the constant grind of touring really puts a smile on your face. Watching Chunky Shrapnel in the midst of a global pandemic, knowing you won’t be able to attend a proper show for an extended period of time, really helps transform you into feeling like you’re there. The ultimate sign of a successful concert film.
For all King Gizzard news and updates, make sure to visit https://flightlessrecords.com/. To follow the band on their socials, which you should for pure entertainment, here’s their account info:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kinggizzardandthelizardwizard/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinggizzard/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinggizzard
