Hi, everyone. Airthony Planetano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album, Flight B741.

Here we have the 26th full-length LP from the boundary pushing, versatile and prolific Australian rock outfit, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. In the past 14 years, this band has been able to amass the hardcore fan base and output that usually only bands twice their age have. But when you actually look at the group's very creative and big picture holistic approach to writing and album craft, it's not hard to see why they would have the listener base that they do.

I mean, winding back to their early previous albums, the band could have easily stayed some random Melbourne lo-fi psych-garage outfit. There's certainly a scene down there for it. But instead, later down the road, they expanded more into folk music, into progressive rock, metal, pop, jazz funk soul, microtonal music, narrative-based concepts, and more recently, electronics, too. The band is currently at a point where it seems like they're heading into each new project with some new, fresh angle, and that is also very much the case for Flight B741.

As there are a couple of things to note here: One, I think a lot of fans will feel like the music this time around sees the band going back to their roots a little bit as we are getting 10 tracks of vintage golden age rock and roll music music that sounds like it was recorded or conceived in the late '60s, early '70s, but this time around with a specifically Southern American twist. Think of the Allman Brothers Band or Canned Heat or even CCR, classic rock outfits that have a bit of a rustic twang to their demeanor - a vibe on this record that is only enhanced by the gospel-inspired group vocals and chord progressions on the opening track, as well as on "Antarctica", which has a groovy backbone to it that sounds like something lifted out a New Orleans funk LP, something very Meters-esque, but with a psychedelic twist and big group vocals, too.

There are a couple of other things that make this a special record in the band's catalog. The vocals - as, I guess, this time around, the band is encouraging members that don't usually get a whole lot of mic time to step up and take the lead, which you can hear most specifically on highlights like "Le Risque".

However, I feel like this approach doesn't necessarily matter as much in practice as it does in concept, because having listened to and reviewed a lot of the band's output up until this point, for sure, I can tell when I'm not getting Stu McKenzie's trademark, a very gravely, droney growl. But the respective vocal styles of each band member, they don't vary all that widely. So there is a sameiness to the singing across the record.

However, this doesn't mean the record isn't without its selling points. There are quite a few good songs in this tracklist. There's a lot of attitude to the performances on this album as well. And I have to say, in comparison with a lot of the band's recent output, this is handily one of the most bright, joyous, and persistently feel good records King Gizzard has ever put out, as they're really letting loose on this LP in a way that is just pure fun.

Take, for example, the escapism of the track "Raw Feel", which is a cute rock anthem that's all about whatever it is that gives you that exciting little jolt in life, be it a song you're really passionate about or maybe even a pill.

If you need further proof that the band is in search of good vibes on this project, take the song "Sad Pilot", which is all about letting go of your problems. Maybe not sometimes in ways that are all that good or healthy for you, but still trying to leave them behind all the same.

There's also the hard, grooving "Field of Vision" which ends off in a very interesting way for any King Gizzard song. I mean, not only are the honking harmonicas and fuzzy buzzing guitar leads on the track great, but I love these group vocals that finish things off with, "I'm being silly, I'm being silly billy". And in my opinion, the zanier and more southern the instrumentation on this record sounds, the better.

Be that on "Hog Calling Contest", where you get more fiery guitar licks, literal pig calls, as well as just some intense band chemistry, or even the momentous closer "Daily Blues", which is a seven-minute monster in the tracklist that ties things together really well, not just musically, but conceptually as well. I mean, this may not be King Gizzard's most conceptual record yet, but there are a lot of nods to the various mentions across the record so far, to flying, letting go of hate, letting go of your problems.

Of course, there's a lot of symbolism throughout the record with the pigs and the rats, too. But yeah, as far as song structures and layering, this is easily the most epic track on the entire LP. And once again, the band is singing very much about letting go of hate, embracing love, even with those who you have hatred for.

Again, like I was saying earlier, there are some instrumental palettes and group vocal sections that, to my ears, feel very samey across the record, and I feel like whatever makes this album special tends to shrink or blur a little bit when the band dips a bit too far into making this sound like a psychedelic rock record as opposed to a rootsy rock record or a southern rock record or something that has some boogie to it.

For sure, sometimes the band's emulation of these styles doesn't really amount to much more than mere pastiche. But I still thought Flight B741 was a very solid record from King Giz, which is why I'm feeling a light to decent seven on it.

Anthony Fantano. King Gizzard. Forever.