Oddments is the fourth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 7 March 2014 on Flightless. It peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Albums Chart after being re-released on vinyl in November 2018.[1] "Work This Time" remains the band's most listened-to track on Spotify, with over 40 million plays to date.[2]

Oddments
Studio album by
Released7 March 2014 (2014-03-07)
Genre
Length32:07
LabelFlightless
Producer
  • Stu Mackenzie
  • Joe Walker
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology
Float Along – Fill Your Lungs
(2013)
Oddments
(2014)
I'm in Your Mind Fuzz
(2014)
Singles from Oddments
  1. "Vegemite"
    Released: 13 January 2014

Background and recording

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Oddments was announced on 14 January 2014, with "Vegemite" serving as the album's lead single. Lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie said that the song was "probably the most literal song [he's] ever written".[3][4] Oddments consists of outtakes from the band's prior releases, with the album serving as a way to compile the songs without necessarily adhering to a sound or theme as the band had done up until that point;[5] the oddment nature of the songs (being leftovers from previous albums) gave the album its name.[6] The album opener "Alluda Majaka" refers to and features an audio sample of the 1995 Telugu film of the same name. During production of the album, Mackenzie's laptop was stolen with the masters for several tracks on the album alongside a majority of the tracks from The Murlocs' debut album Loopholes, forcing both bands to rerecord the lost material.[7]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
Rolling Stone Australia     [9]

Oddments was King Gizzard's fourth album in 18 months, with some reviewers noting that the album's quality seemingly suffered from the rush to quickly turnaround new material.[5][10][11] Reviewers and retrospectives on the band's discography also noted that the album was overall stylistically fractured and incohesive, something other releases of theirs had not been prior nor since,[5][12][6] although some reviewers and retrospectives also pointed out that songs had a pop lean to them.[6][13]

Track listing

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Vinyl releases have tracks 1–6 on Side A, and tracks 7–12 on Side B.[14]

Oddments track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Alluda Majaka"Stu Mackenzie 3:34
2."Stressin'"
 2:56
3."Vegemite"Mackenzie 2:45
4."It's Got Old"Mackenzie 2:58
5."Work This Time"
  • Walker
  • Mackenzie
  • Walker
  • Mackenzie
4:36
6."ABABCD"WalkerWalker0:17
7."Sleepwalker"Mackenzie 3:46
8."Hot Wax"
  • Mackenzie
  • Ambrose Kenny-Smith
 3:29
9."Crying"Cook Craig 2:56
10."Pipe-Dream"Craig 1:01
11."Homeless Man in Adidas"Mackenzie 3:24
12."Oddments"Mackenzie 0:25
Total length:32:07

Personnel

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Credits for Oddments adapted from liner notes.[15]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Additional musicians

  • Monty Hartnett – drums (tracks 9 and 10)

Production

  • Stu Mackenzie – production (tracks 1–5 and 7–12)
  • Joe Walker – production (tracks 2, 5 and 6)
  • Joe Carra – mastering
  • Jason Galea – cover art and layout
  • Jarrad Brown – recording assistance (track 7)

Charts

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Chart performance for Oddments
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 13

References

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  1. ^ "A Star Is Born soundtrack holds #1 for third week". Australian Recording Industry Association. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. ^ King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6XYvaoDGE0VmRt83Jss9Sn Archived 20 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Baroni, Nastassia (14 January 2014). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Announce New LP 'Oddments', Drop Single 'Vegemite'". Music Feeds. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  4. ^ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Announce New Album "Oddments" – Across The Ocean". acrosstheocean.com.au. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Crosbie, Niamh (7 March 2014). "An Analysis of 'Oddments' by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard". SpeakerTV. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Saunders, Luke (6 February 2020). "Every single King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album, ranked". Happy Mag. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  7. ^ McCarthy, Dylan (27 March 2014). "King Gizzard, The Murlocs Lost "Entire Recordings" In Computer Robbery". Tone Deaf. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  8. ^ Sendra, Tim. "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Oddments Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  9. ^ Wallen, Doug. [1] Archived 2018-01-01 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. ^ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard : Oddments". Beat Magazine. 17 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  11. ^ Telford, Brendan (13 February 2014). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard / Oddments". themusic.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ^ Handke, Tobias (19 November 2020). "We rank every King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard album". purplesneakers.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  13. ^ Emery, Patrick (27 February 2014). "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Oddments". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  14. ^ Oddments at Discogs (list of releases)
  15. ^ Track listing and credits as per liner notes for Oddments album
  16. ^ "Australiancharts.com – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Oddments". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 December 2022.