King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, “Flight b741.”

Rock and roll is, above all, supposed to be fun. On the latest from King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, the Australian psych band leans in on having fun by harkening back to the glory days of the ‘70s. On Flight b741, the band offers up about as faithful a take on fuzz-toned guitar riffage and energy as any American bands from that era.

The 10-track album is fueled by life, soaring choruses, harmonious vocals, guitar solos, harmonica solos, and all the over-the-top bombast to go along with it. Songs boogie, groove and vibrantly flow throughout.

Ironically, the opening track starts comparatively subdued. The Southern-fried “Mirage City” has some  CCR-esque twang with a side dish of Petty and Steve Miller. But this vibe is quickly left behind as the band kicks into high gear with a harmonica-led rollicking jam that brings the opener home.

King Gizzard is a band that’s thrived on high-concept, epic opuses, but Flight b741 is not that; that’s by design. The idea was just to get in a room and play all day, every day, frontman Stu Mackenzie has said.

The group also traded in its fancy gear for more accessible instruments and equipment (less things to mess with). That dedication to having fun and jamming out is abundantly noticeable on tracks like “Antarctica.” The song is lively and built on harmony, with infectiousness lyrics that become instantly memorable even before the song is finished.

“I made a deal with the devil in the fuselage/ Crashed into heaven in the dead of winter,” the band sings in harmony.

“Raw Feel” sounds exactly as its name suggests: It’s an upbeat guitar-driven track that turns up the distortion and the percussion all the way. The danceable “Field of Vision” ups the ante with a memorable opening guitar riff that gets feet tapping after just a couple notes. The authenticity with which the band achieves its vision is really something to behold.

The raucous “Hog Calling Contest” doubles down on Southern rock with driving drumming and keys working overtime. The multipart harmonies are the focal point, with added texture courtesy of a harmonica. “Le Risque” has a little more of a modern spin, from a songwriting perspective The band juices it up with blues while drummer Michael “Cavs” Cavanagh singing lead. As on recent records like 2023’s The Silver Cord, King Gizzard decided to pass the microphone and let various members lead.

The title track and “Sad Pilot” keep the vibe going and the aviation theme flying. The latter feels a bit more stripped and acoustic than the other tracks, giving it more of a folky rock sound. The album finishes out with its shortest song (“Rats in the Sky”) followed by its longest (“Daily Blues”). The latter is ambitious by most rock bands’ standards, at just under eight minutes. Of course, King Gizz have written plenty of songs north of 10 minutes.

So in this way, Flight b741 may be the perfect entry points into this band’s extensive catalog.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.