King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's first EP,
Willoughby's Beach, finds the band bursting out of the garage and delivering a record sprinkled with echoing yelps, stomping beats, supercharged riffs, and tough-as-rattlesnakes mid-fi production. Though quite a few songs sound like they were lifted directly from a volume of
Ugly Things ("Stoned Mullet," "Danger $$$"), their idea of garage rock revival isn't very reverent and the nine songs cover a lot of ground, whether it's the rambling rock of "Lunch Meat," the
Cramps-y swagger of "Crookedile," the drowning-in-reverb country balladry of "Let It Bleed," or the crooked surf-garage title track. It was clear from the beginning that the bandmembers did things their own way, and with a style that could best be described as wild and loose. That being said, there is plenty of method to their madness, and they showed mastery of form and function even at this early stage.
Willoughby's Beach served as a thrilling call to arms letting the world know that
the Gizzard had launched, and was ready to get really weird. ~ Tim Sendra
