{"id":12468,"date":"2023-05-16T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12468"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:07:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:07:42","slug":"album-review-lizzards-lizzards-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2023\/05\/16\/album-review-lizzards-lizzards-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review :: Lizzards :: Lizzards II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a3725175089_16.jpg\" alt=\"Lizzards - three lizard heads with a human body in white shirts and lizard hands smoking or holding something  . . . \"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>by Myles Tiessen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Lizzards have slithered back for their sophomore release, <\/em><em>Lizzards II<\/em><em>. Arriving via the local staple Eat Em Up Records, <\/em><em>Lizzards II<\/em><em> takes everything they brought to their S\/T debut and brings a heightened ferocity. The vocals are snarlier, the guitars have quicker licks, the bass lines are boomier than ever, and the kit kicks with untethered tenacity.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>The clearest takeaway from <\/em><em>Lizzards II<\/em><em> is the band\u2019s undeniable chemistry and ego-less collaboration. Swapping singers is part of that, but it\u2019s mostly evident in the very bones of their songs. \u201cI Enjoy Being A Boy,\u201d for example, kicks off with a thundering bass line well and swell enough to be the song\u2019s main feature; that\u2019s only until the face-melting guitar solo jumps off at a blistering pace. The chorus, which undoubtedly features the lyrics \u201cI enjoy being a boy when I\u2019m with you,\u201d are backed by Beach Boys-esque \u201cOooohs.\u201d It\u2019s a tight track that comes in at under two minutes but makes a lasting impression.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>One highlight on an album of highlights is \u201cFreezing Cold,\u201d a surf-rock gem that features call-and-response lyrics, endearing monitor buzzes, and, as one might expect, fuzzed-out guitars. It\u2019s a catchy track that instantly makes you fall in love with the record.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Let\u2019s also call attention to the impeccable penultimate, \u201cThe Leader.\u201d Somewhat Sadies, somewhat Gun Club, this garage\/country ballad is a perfect example of both genres\u2019 propensity for cynicism, regret, and misanthropy. It\u2019s probably the most lyrically dense track on the album (not that every song has to be) that wrestles with the nature of blind faith. \u201cCome with me, and you will see you\u2019ll reap just what you sow\/ Trust in me, and I will lead to galaxies unknown,\u201d says the song\u2019s unreliable narrator.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>There is everything you could ever want out of a garage album. Breakneck drumming? Check. Lofi vocals? Check. Scuzzy guitars that fucking rip with catchy riffs? Check and Check. It\u2019s an undeniably old-school DIY rock that we don\u2019t always get these days. Here\u2019s to <\/em><em>Lizzards III.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Myles Tiessen The Lizzards have slithered back for their sophomore release, Lizzards II. Arriving via the local staple Eat Em Up Records, Lizzards II takes everything they brought to their S\/T debut and brings a heightened ferocity. The vocals are snarlier, the guitars have quicker licks, the bass lines are boomier than ever, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1536,1535,1534],"class_list":["post-12468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-lizzards","tag-lizzards-ii","tag-lizzards-ii-by-lizzards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12469,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468\/revisions\/12469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}