By Madison Gallagher:
It’s midnight, which is a private detective’s busiest hour. I’ve got my feet up on my desk and I’m laying back in my chair. The rain pitter patters at the window, while the lone street lamp shines some light through it. I flip a quarter and it spins through the air above my head, stalls, then falls back to my hand. Tails. I mark my notebook accordingly. This is the dullest case I’ve worked on yet, but Mayor Pascal was adamant about needing these coin flip numbers. I suspect that he’s just trying to keep me off the street so he can run some kind of pyramid scheme away from my prying eyes. My underground sources have told me a little bit about Pascal’s Triangle, but he’s paying me to ignore it so I do, for now. I flip my quarter again, but before I can catch it, someone bursts through my door. Startled, I lose track of the quarter and it drops to the floor and rolls over to the newcomer.
I’ve actually dealt with this guy before, he’s the editor for the local newspaper, and has had me cover for his investigative journalist a few times. He likes to be called Mister E. Jack. He’s an older fellow and carries himself as such. He’s a little on the shorter side, wearing a tweed jacket and glasses that are trying too hard to be fashionable. Who am I to judge though, I can never keep up with trends. He’s like an incandescent lightbulb in a room full of LED’s.
“Hi, Jack. What side of that coin is facing up?” I ask.
“Tails,” said Jack, with just a touch of indignation. “Why do you care?”
I mark my notebook accordingly again and said, “Nevermind that, Jack. What are you doing here so late? Are you a sleepwalker?”
“You were supposed to dig up a story for me to run in the paper tomorrow. You’re covering for my regular investigative journalist this week, remember? I’m stressin’ out, please tell me you have something that can work this time,” he said.
Uh-oh, it seems that I’ve found myself in a bit of hot water. I got so wrapped up in Pascal’s probability problem that I forgot about this thing. I scan the room for anything that I can use to get Jack off my case. My eyes fell upon my vinyl collection that I keep at my office, and I get an idea. “Did you ever hear the story of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard?” I ask him.
“No.” Jack replies.
“I thought not. It’s not a story your typical investigative journalist would tell you. Take a seat and I’ll give you a good story to run in that paper of yours.” I get him settled in and take back my quarter that he picked up and I say, “As the story goes…”
“King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is a prolific Australian experimental band that has released 25 studio albums to date, and show no signs of stopping soon. They’ve released 5 albums in a calendar year on two separate occasions, 2017 & 2022, which is an amazing feat. Although Stu Mckenzie is the frontman for the band, all six current members get in on the creative process (each member of the band even has their own side projects) which keeps the band feeling fresh even after so many releases. With the preamble out of the way, let’s dig a little deeper…
Back in 2013, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released the album “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs”. This was the first album where the band used two drummers (the second drummer is no longer with the band, but they ran with two drummers for about 7 years). FAFYL was also the band’s first real dip into psychedelic music and the use of odd time signatures. The title track was done in 5/4 time signature and they owed it all to Stu’s old Ford car alarm.
The band was set up in a friend’s barn and working on recording their album, and Stu had left the lights on in his car so it was giving off a little “doo-doo-doo” alarm sound for hours. They had been working on the song “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs” during this session and Stu subconsciously used that same melody from the car alarm in this song. A few days later Stu had left his lights on again, and upon hearing the car alarm sound was mind-blown when he realized what he had done.
The band would go on to experiment with many more polyrhythmic time signatures and unique sounds and instruments. But it all started with an old Ford “you left your lights on” alarm.”
I lean back in my chair and start flipping the quarter again. “How’s that story treat ya?” I asked Jack.
“I’ve heard better, but I think I can run with it,” he says. “It beats running another Courry brand Cat Food ad. Well, I need to put a pop in my step in order to get this written up in time. I’ll see myself out.”
And with that, I am alone again. The night presses in around me, and while I could blame it on the weather I know it’s deeper than that. I move over to the record player and pick out some hot wax to play. The familiar melodies pump out of the speakers and the disquietude of the night drip away. I make my way back to the desk and flip my quarter again.
So there you have it. Thank you Madison for this cool story. And come back and see us real soon right here on As The Story Goes.
KGLW:
Follow this link to see Float Along, Fill Your Lungs live at Remlinger Farms 6/18/23 by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_AZdo5TsvM
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AS THE STORY GOES 