Yak are a three-piece onslaught of drums, bass and guitar, with little of the quiet peaceful nature of their bovine namesakes. The guitar and vocals are twisted and distorted adding extra punch to ‘Hungry Heart’ and ‘No’. Singer Ollie Burslem plays occasional and strangely vertical keyboard sounding like he is opening some hellish vault to release more thunderous sounds. New single ‘Victorious(National Anthem)’ would have my vote if entered as a contender. Great show openers, a blistering performance.

With their recent project ‘Paper Mâché Dream Balloon’, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard branched out into acoustic, pastoral grooves to make a summer concoction well worth a listen.
Only the up-tempo ‘Trapdoor’ from that album had an airing tonight; the seven-piece band filling the stage were tight, electric and more into some of the extended workouts featured on previous long-player ‘I’m In Your Mind Fuzz’ as well as a few new songs. ‘Hot Wax’ was an addictive groove as was the jazz-tinged ‘The River’.
Although mainly electric, singer/guitarist Stu Mackenzie added some flute and there was plenty of harmonica to hear too. The band’s energetic live performance is driven from the back by twin drummers, mostly in complete synchronisation, a hypnotic effect to watch.

The Rescue Rooms is a near-perfect compact venue with very good sound, you can stand around the balcony or get down the front. Bars in the music room and bars to retreat to, but you wouldn’t have wanted to miss a moment when the music was of this high calibre…

https://www.facebook.com/yakyakyak
http://kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com/
https://cambridgemusicreviews.net/2016/01/10/king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizard-paper-mache-dream-balloon-released-november-2015/