Gumboot Soup

Gumboot Soup serves as the final installment of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's ambitious five-album run in 2017. Unlike its predecessors, which were strictly conceptual (e.g., the microtonal focus of Flying Microtonal Banana or the jazz-fusion of Sketches of Brunswick East), this album is a curated collection of songs that didn't fit those specific molds. Recorded largely on the road during a grueling world tour, the album was finished by frontman Stu Mackenzie during the Christmas period to meet the band's self-imposed deadline. Sonically, it is their most diverse effort of the era, spanning from the soft-rock sensibilities of 'Beginner's Luck' to the proto-metal sludge of 'The Great Chain of Being.' It also features 'All Is Known,' a fan-favorite microtonal track that bridges the gap between their garage-rock roots and their experimental future. Despite its 'compilation' nature, the album is highly regarded for its songwriting quality and serves as a comprehensive sampler of the band's 2017 creative peak.