"Gamma Knife" is a song by the Australian rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, released on 9 March 2016 as the lead single for the band's eighth studio album Nonagon Infinity. The song gets its name from Gamma Knife surgery, a type of radiosurgery used to treat brain tumors by administering high-intensity gamma radiation therapy in a manner that concentrates the radiation over a small volume.
"Gamma Knife" is a fast-paced rock song described by Uncut as having "hard-charging guitars, liberal use of effects pedals and a thrillingly frantic finale."[3] Guitarist Joey Walker has said it and "Robot Stop" were the first time the band had used odd time signatures "in a way that was at the core of what the album felt like, or was a thing that we were building the album around."[4]
The song contains a drum solo in 11 8 time. Frontman Stu Mackenzie recounted drummer Michael Cavanagh's hesitancy to play the solo: "[He] is a brilliant drummer, but he's very modest. He's not an ego drummer who wants to do a big solo. [...] I think when this song came around, it's got that kind of like— maybe 11/8 or a bar of six and a bar of five in a row? — so, I think he had this thing where this guitar thing was happening where he could do like a drum solo or drum break that wasn't really self-indulgent. It took a bit of convincing, which I guess is a testament to his low ego."[5]
Critical reception
"Gamma Knife" has received positive reception and is considered a highlight among the band's discography. Consequence named it one of the band's best, saying "It's a major reason for why many fans consider Nonagon Infinity to be King Gizzard's best record. With its feisty momentum, trippy timbres, and raucous yet welcoming vocals, Gamma Knife strikes a fine balance between catchy accessibility and uninhibited trickiness. The multilayered multicultural breakdown near the end is downright hypnotic, too, bolstering the track as a classic not only for the band but for psychedelic garage rock as a whole."
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