Fishing For Fishies kicks off with a drumbeat that makes the sun shine. It’s uplifting, summery and has us feeling vacation ready – even though the lyrics are about our treatment of the planet. Fishing For Fishies sounds like the perfect way to spend the afternoon and the melodies are cute and childlike, even though the lyrics are critical of fishing culture.
“Boogieman Sam” is hella groovy. If you weren’t dancing already, you will be now. It’s the indie anthem for an American road trip, complete with grilled stickies and dive bars. King Gizzard keeps it simple. He sings: “Causing mayhem / ‘Cause he’s the Boogieman / Bottoms up, flailing / ‘Cause he’s the Boogieman.”
There are two more songs on the album with the word “boogie” in and that’s just as well because that’s what the album has us doing. “Plastic Boogie” is a real tune, complete with an important environmental message. “Oh, the way we wrap it is wrong” King Gizzard sings, before relentlessly cursing our overuse of plastic. The track is hectic but reinforces the message that we need to take our “vendetta against our mother nature” more seriously.
In “The Cruel Millennial”, the King does not throw shade at the millennial but instead owns up to being one. He confesses his addiction to “tablet screens” and wittily owns up to being a “cruel millennial”. Meanwhile, the guitar licks are seriously slick and we’re still bobbing our heads up and down, daydreaming about whiskey and old country roads while vowing to never use plastic straws again.
The rest of the album is just as fun and just as tasty. It’s easy to forget that the band is from Australia as the record sounds so American influenced. “Acarine” gets a little more psychedelic and sounds influenced by the likes of Tame Impala and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Of course, the harmonica soon makes its return and we’re back on Highway One.
The album finale “Cry Boogie” is more like the King Gizzard we’re used to. It’s groovy, psychedelic and has weird distorted keys and guitar. Ending the album this way is a statement that the road trip’s over and we’re back in the land of Lizard Wizards, where everything is strange and teases us into floating away.
Overall, Fishing For Fishies makes a statement regarding our treatment of our planet (without being preachy) while also containing some damn good tunes. The record is accessible, groovy and a whole load of fun.
4/5
