King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Phantom Island


4.5
superb

Review

by Thompson D. Gerhart STAFF
June 26th, 2025 | 27 replies


Release Date: 06/13/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: King Gizz get extra brassy and extra breezy, bringing the soulful summer vibes you didn't know you were missing

Phantom Island is an album that only the likes of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard could pull off. The band have such a penchant for expertly embracing any style or genre that catches their fancy that Phantom Island was probably inevitable, but the amount of respect King Gizz pay to the genres they tap into and the craftsmanship they put into putting it all together is what makes it stand out.

And sure, there are other bands who do something similar, but they're in rare company. The blues rock base of Phantom Island betrays its real complexity. It'd be like calling Zeppelin or The Beatles or The Rolling Stones blues rock. Sure, it's true, but what they do on top of that is what makes it special.

Layers of horn-led funk replete with a full orchestra add a sense of swagger and swing. Flutes and woodwinds elevate the breezy nature of tracks like "Aerodynamic" and "Spacesick." String swells add to the cinematic drama of self-titled opener "Phantom Island," while the ever diversely voiced Gizz float between the traditionally structured and soulfully delivered "Deadstick" - a standout summer groove and dance banger if ever there was one - and the free-flowing, but expertly metered narrative of "Aerodnyamic."

All that to say, Phantom Island is subtle in its complexities - using intricacy to enhance a narrative and a feeling of anything and everything that might catch your mind on a walk by the beach on a warm summer day. That flute section is there to push the wind through your hair as you walk down the street. The push and pull in "Silent Spirit" between the horns and intricate, Eastern-sounding guitar is there to make you feel that elaborate tension of the waves and the beach.

Does that mean that the effects themselves are always subtle? Of course not. "Phantom Island" enters to much orchestral fanfare and a stark, if darkly beautiful piano. "Eternal Return" ends with choral interplay on the currents of big blues bends carried by equally sized string swells. It's not hard to go on and on, but the point is that band orchestrate the orchestra to such a degree that they feel natural and inseparable.

It's a beautiful experience with an overall upbeat, outdoors-y, summer-y vibe that's hard to deny - despite it being winter in the southern hemisphere. Phantom Island is King Gizz at their best producing yet another album that can not only be heralded for its precision and progression, but for once again showing how to take a bundle of diverse ingredients and transform them into a cohesive, intriguing, and overall fun experience, while remaining introspective and exploratory.




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user ratings (83)
3.5
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
TheTripP
June 26th 2025


4844 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this is a good ole time for sure, beats the past couple albums. Great review

AtomicWaste
Moderator
June 26th 2025


2909 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Thank you! I really dig The Silver Cord, but this is in the same space with a little less filler

Hawks
Contributing Reviewer
June 26th 2025


107054 Comments


Always meant to get into this band.

Mongi123
June 26th 2025


22245 Comments


I don't understand how a band that puts out this much stuff like they do nothing else in their lives can remain consistent lol

Hyperion1001
Emeritus
June 26th 2025


29206 Comments


we need an international cooperative effort to stop this band from releasing music.

jrlikestodance
June 26th 2025


5546 Comments


They need to stop Phish first

Sowing
Moderator
June 27th 2025


44981 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Really nice review. And welcome back!



This is probably my favorite KG since Infest, and the summery psychedelic feel couldn't have come at a better time. It's just a really enjoyable record, and I agree that it still retains plenty of complexity.

Veldin
June 27th 2025


5711 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I’ve been jamming this nonstop since release. Great review!

kalkwiese
June 27th 2025


10909 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

My favorite since PetroDragonic Apocalypse. Pretty good!

Blizzink
June 27th 2025


267 Comments


I'm a delusional fanboy for these dudes, but I can't quite get this one to click yet

SomeCallMeTim
June 27th 2025


5350 Comments


yeah welcome back, wonder why you chose now hmm

we need an international cooperative effort to stop this band from releasing music [2]

keaton_86
June 27th 2025


1173 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

With a bit of polish this one could've been amazing. Man I'd love for gizz to work with a producer. They're kinda their own worst enemy sometimes.

AtomicWaste
Moderator
June 27th 2025


2909 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Mmm... I really don't see any production flaws though. What do you hear that could do with a tidy?

"I don't understand how a band that puts out this much stuff like they do nothing else in their lives can remain consistent lol"

It's incredible. And they tour fairly relentlessly.

keaton_86
June 27th 2025


1173 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

As usual for king gizz the mixing is pretty bad. Like in deadstick you can barely hear stu. But overall its the song structure. It's just so messy and it makes the songs unmemorable. All their albums since like, Ice death have just felt rushed. Except changes which took them like 5 years to make or something.

Comatorium.
June 28th 2025


5474 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

The people who rate this bands albums 4.5 and 5 are the most annoying kind of person

rufinthefury
June 29th 2025


4272 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

This album is just like the last one, in one ear and out the other. Inoffensive. Silent Spring is the only standout

gabba
June 29th 2025


2396 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

That’s why I’m checking only every third of their releases. And since I find every 2nd to be decent, I get an enjoyable Gizzard record every 4-5th year.

AtomicWaste
Moderator
June 29th 2025


2909 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I kinda felt that way about Flight b, but (obviously) got really into this one

gabba
June 29th 2025


2396 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I haven’t heard Flight b, but this one’s good, will see how much it grows on me. Has great Summer vibes, so I’ll stick to it for a while.

Veldin
June 29th 2025


5711 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Comatorium I take offense to that statement, considering I have a handful of their albums at 4.5. I haven’t given them any 5’s though. Nonagon would probably be the closest. The baroque and chamber style on this album really resonates with me, because I grew up listening to baroque and symphonic 60s and 70s pop music. This album is a nice cozy pillow, cold on both sides



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