It's my job as a critic to parse music and try to explain it to readers. If I do it right, then I might inspire you to check out something you otherwise would never have heard. Sometimes, though, parsing is a fool's errand. Such as with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity (ATO)

Yes, the band's name should tell you something. This Australian outfit doesn't conform to any particular style, though manic garage prog-punk might come as close as anything. As if that phrase can have much meaning past all of its contradictions.

But those contradictions are what makes this album so exciting. The energy never flags, and the ideas are often cast off as fast as they are expressed. Oh, and every song flows into the next (including the last into the first), so you can play this as an infinite loop and drive yourself completely hyperkinetically mad within a couple of hours.

I'm definitely a fan of such things. Losing your mind now and again can be a good thing. And these folks are pretty adept at loosening the guide lines of reality. These songs spin, whirl and blister until everything is frayed to a soft fuzz.

Again, that's a good thing. I can only imagine what a live show might be like, and luckily I'll have a chance to find out in a month or so. This is last year's episode. Look for a new one in a couple of months. Actually, don't look. Compulsively crave until it is delivered into your fevered hands. That's the sort of devotion King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard inspires.

Jon Worley