King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard shared the second single from the band’s Phantom Island orchestral album, “Deadstick”. Out June 13th via the band’s P(doom) Records, the album will accompany a brief U.S. tour where King Gizz will play with regional 28-piece orchestras.
As opposed to the lush instrumentation of Phantom Island‘s title track/lead single, “Deadstick” makes relatively minimal use of orchestral accompaniment. Instead, this upbeat jazzy tune takes its power from a horn section of saxophones, trumpets, and trombones, as well as guitarist Joey Walker‘s Chuck Berry duck walk in the accompanying music video.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are a band of constant surprises. It was already enough of a shock that the Australian psych-rock princes made an orchestral album (and took two years to do it). Then comes a song like “Deadstick”, which would sound like a classic Billy Joel FM rock radio favorite if not for Stu Mackenzie‘s heavily distorted vocals. One of the band members perfectly encapsulates the experience of being a King Gizzard fan as he charges into the ocean at the end of the video. Passing by random detritus like a row of airplane seats, he darts forward against the crashing waves—not knowing what to expect but bravely pressing onward, ready for whatever may float his way.
King Gizzard will play ten cities on its upcoming tour, including three nights at Bonnaroo for the first-ever “Roo Residency” and the band’s inaugural Field of Vision festival in Buena Vista, CO (8/15–8/17). All of the headlining tour dates will feature a different local orchestra (except for night two at Forest Hills Stadium), while the band will play regular rock n’ roll shows all three nights at Field of Vision. The band has yet to share formatting details for its Bonnaroo appearances.
Watch King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s new music video for “Deadstick”. Phantom Island is now available for pre-order here. The band will host an “Ask Me Anything” on its dedicated subreddit to accompany the single. Before you go on r/KGATLW to ask why Stu cut his hair, he already revealed it’s because he had head lice, explaining, “It happens when you have kids”.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — “Deadstick” [Official Video]