Song of the Day: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - I'm In Your Mind

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “I'm In Your Mind” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard from the 2014 album I'm In Your Mind Fuzz on Castle Face.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - I'm In Your Mind (MP3)

Across the last few years, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard has transformed from a group of Carlton, Victoria, Australia musicians messing around into a bona fide garage rock force that transcends their (admittedly) goofy name. In the form of two drummers, a slew of guitarists, and a full-time harmonica player (with a totally justified presence), the seven members of the band – Stu Mackenzie, Joe Walker, Eric Moore, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Lucas Skinner, Cook Craig, and Michael Cavanagh – started King Gizzard as one of each member's many projects. Rambunctious shows and increasingly frequent songwriting sessions pushed the project to the forefront of the members' agendas, leading to tours across and outside of Australia to accompany the rapid succession of albums they were releasing.

Their fifth full-length, last year's I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, is a concept album about mind control, which sounds silly on paper, but in execution, it's not too different than Mastodon's Moby Dick-themed sludge metal classic Leviathan: the compelling songs and performances are only amplified by the unlikely success of the theme. "I'm In Your Mind" is one of a handful of songs that most directly revolve around the idea (along with "I'm In Your Mind Fuzz" and "I'm Not In Your Mind"), and it makes something as awful as brainwashing seem slightly appealing. The condensed, saturated production creates a thick atmosphere where the band's seven members sound more unified than most other septets could ever sound, trading off guitar licks and bluesy harmonica stabs in between spacey vocals and sound effects. "I'm In Your Mind" is a prime slice of fuzzy garage force, and for a bunch of guys screwing around with a silly idea, it's surprisingly combustive.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard will return to North America this summer for a string of dates, but there's no word on a Pacific Northwestern show yet. Any new shows will be announced over at the band's Facebook and Bandcamp. Below, watch the band's 3D video for "Cellophane".