If you’re in quarantine screaming to “Superbug” and changing the lyrics of “Self-Immolate” to “Self-Isolate,” we feel you. Thankfully, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are doing what they do best during this terrifying pandemic: putting out music. The boys just announced the dates for their new concert film and album, Chunky Shrapnel – “a feature-length motion picture that follows King Gizzard’s adrenaline-inducing onstage performances from the perspective of the band” (check out the trailer below). The film premieres on Friday, April 17th via an online livestream, so make sure to get your tickets before the big premiere right here. It will be followed by a sixteen-track double LP with music from the film, recorded during their 2019 European tour. The album is available for pre-order next Friday, April 10th before its digital release on April 24th. It will be available in U.S. record stores on May 19th, so stay home, support your local shops and order by mail or by phone. ATO even teased a “Vomit Bomb” edition of the vinyl, and whatever that means, we need it.
If the name Chunky Shrapnel sounds familiar, it’s because you’re deeply embedded in the Gizzverse with us; it’s derived from Han-Tyumi’s spoken words in “Murder of the Universe.” The new album artwork by integral Gizz artist Jason Galea is a new level of trippy (even for the coolest of juices), showing seven silver snakes hissing amidst glowing speakers and gear. If you have as many excited questions as we do, get ‘em ready, because the band will be divulging details in another Reddit AMA before the premiere on April 17th, starting at 3pm EST (12pm PST). In the meantime, check out the tracklist and a “eeyup”-worthy quote from Stu below.
album art by Jason Galea
Chunky Shrapnel Tracklist
- Evil Star
- The River (Live in Luxembourg ’19)
- Wah Wah (Live in Madrid ’19)
- Road Train (Live in Manchester ’19)
- Murder Of The Universe (Live in Utrecht ’19)
- Quarantine
- Planet B (Live in London ’19)
- Parking (Live in Brussels ’19)
- Venusian 2 (Live in Milan ’19)
- Hell (Live in Milan ’19)
- Let Me Mend The Past (Live in Madrid ’19)
- Anamnesis
- Inner Cell (Live in Utrecht ’19)
- Loyalty (Live in Utrecht ’19)
- Horology (Live in Utrecht ’19)
- A Brief History Of Planet Earth (Live in London, Berlin, Utrecht and Barcelona ’19)
“John Stewart (director of Chunky Shrapnel) followed us around for a few weeks through Europe,” said Stu Mackenzie. “It was fun and funny and wild and weird. Sometimes an inconspicuous fly on the wall, sometimes an intrusive camera man one inch from my face. Always exciting though. Chunky Shrapnel was made for the cinema but as both concerts and films are currently outlawed, it feels poetic to release a concert-film digitally right now.” Intriguingly, the press release describes the film as “a musical road movie dipped in turpentine” and “a point of view / on stage experience from the perspective of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.” It pointedly notes that the film is a journey vs. a lecture, “an incurved experience rather than a linear one.”
Chunky Shrapnel film poster
“The band, nor the film-makers, were interested in making a self congratulatory ‘behind the scenes expose’ film,” the press release continues. “It was a direct decision to keep the inner workings of the band’s personality at arms length, it is the music they were interested in exploring. The approach was taken that the film’s protagonist should be the ‘on stage’ performances, that was the focus. With this, they abandoned multiple cameras and cross cutting during performances, turning the camera into a vehicle for the audience to experience the show through, rather than placing them in a crowd or side of stage. At 96 minutes, Chunky Shrapnel more than earns its length. At times gently holding your hand and at other times smashing a bottle over your head and dumping your body in a heaving crowd. There is an inevitability to the film, a driving, ever accelerating spiral that climaxes in a 15-minute medley that spans four countries.”
In a move that gives us hope for a safer world by October, KGATLW have also rescheduled their 2020 North American tour dates, including their three-hour marathon sets at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA and Red Rocks in Morrison, CO – see below for the full itinerary. All headline dates feature support from Leah Senior, whose spoken word contributions added all that sweet suspense to MOTU. If you’re non-essential, remember to stay the hell inside so that we can all get back to jaw-dropping in-person concerts – like King Gizzard in Central Park last year. If you’re bored, you now have plenty of time to memorize their fifteen studio albums in preparation for the next possible show.
Rescheduled 2020 Tour Dates
10/3 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA &
10/5 – Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
10/7 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
10/9 – Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival – Indio, CA
10/12 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO &
10/13 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO &
10/16 – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA
10/18 – Shaky Knees Festival – Atlanta, GA
10/19 – The Anthem – Washington, DC
10/22 – Franklin Music Hall – Philadelphia, PA
10/23 – Kings Theatre – Brooklyn, NY
10/25 – L’Olympia – Montreal, QC
10/27 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Toronto, ON
10/28 – Masonic Temple – Detroit, MI
10/29 – Radius – Chicago, IL
10/30 – The Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN
& – Marathon Set shows
All headline dates w/ Leah Senior
Article: Olivia Isenhart
