Paddang Lost in Lizardland – 7th Level Music

Top 25 albums of 2025: #’s 15 – 11

We’re now halfway through my list of favorite albums from last year. Who’s here? Read on!

#15: Lammping – Never Never

Take a trip-hop duo (Lammping) and combine them with a Canadian rockabilly one-man-band who was described by John Waters as “Roy Orbison with a head injury” (Bloodshot Bill), and you get the neat Never Never EP. It sounds like something you’d find in a dusty record bin among “2000s Music – Misc.”, and is well-worth seeking out. It’s the first of four EPs from Lammping, so they’re off to a good start.

#14: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

Would it be a “best of” year list without a King Gizz album by now, since they release at least one album a year? Phantom Island combines the Aussie psych-rock / thrash metal / rave music giants with an orchestra because…why not? It’s a lush album with as much mystery as its cover.

#13: pôt-pot – Warsaw 480km

Here’s a post-punk band that emerged from seemingly nowhere to knock me back into my chair. “Damn, that’s good,” was my first thought after hearing it. I’m delighted that so many good post-punk bands are still appearing, and this is one of them.

#12: John Also Bennett – Ston Elaióna

This is a lovely ambient record mostly made of synths and field recordings John Also Bennett made around Greece. One song is inspired by the oldest known written song found on a stone pillar.

#11: Paddang – Lost in Lizardland

It’s a French psych-rock concept album about a future world dominated by evil lizard people and a lone heroine in the wasteland trying to defeat them. What more do you need to know?

Come back tomorrow to see who made the top ten!

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Paddang – Lost in Lizardland

Imagine you’re in a bleak future where you’re unsure of the loyalties of those around you, as they might be allied with beings intent on your surrender and supplication. Wait…are we already in this place?

Toulouse, France’s Paddang certainly thinks so, as their new album, Lost in Lizardland, is a cautionary tale of sinister forces out to enslave and / or destroy us. The three-man band of Thomas Boquel (guitar and vocals), Rémi Fournier (drums and vocals), and Guirec Petton (bass, synths, and vocals) unleash a wild mix of cosmic rock, psychedelia, and punk chaos to warn us of not just things to come, but also things happening in real time.

“The End of Hanoumane” (an altering of “The End of Humanity?”) is an interesting start, because the “end song” is a setup for an epic journey ahead of us. “Pressure” reminds you of Osees grooves mixed with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard trippy tracks. Heck, “Draconite” even mentions an “altered beast” as the world of our story begins to unravel and reptilian beasts emerge. The slight Middle Eastern touches on Boquel’s guitar are sharp.

“Predator” has the beasts chasing after all of us…or maybe not. “Are they monsters, or are they true? Are they like me, are they like you? Shall we resist or surrender? Brothers, I wish we never become predator(s).” “Lizardland” is about waking up in a world that sort of looks like yours, but you feel something isn’t quite right or know everything is wrong. The breakdown for the outro is great.

“Moros Journey” is the tale of the album’s heroine, Moros, as she tries to navigate the crazy Lizardland world, avoid beasts, and figure just what the hell is happening…and if the golden city she saw in a dream is a real safe haven or a fantasy. It’s a fun, fast track that stomps the gas pedal for the rest of the album. “The Astral Flood” is the album’s heaviest psychedelic track, with lyrics about floating into another plane of existence and the album ends with “Agartha” – a song about finding “energies I can’t ignore, something hidden at the core” (of humanity? Of ourselves? Of the universe? It’s probably all three.). It has plenty of fuzz and fast beats, but there’s a fun pop-rock groove to it you can’t deny.

It’s a wild record, and, I suspect, one that needs to be heard live whenever possible. Get lost in this. You’ll come out of it a bit different.

Gardez l’esprit ouvert.

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[Merci à Angie à NRV!]

Paddang share wild new single, “Predator,” from their upcoming “Lost in Lizardland” album.

Paddang is a psychedelic rock trio formed in Toulouse (France) in 2020. With Osees and King Crimson all over the radio and a band name inspired by a surf spot in Indonesia, Paddang are speeding through a cosmic epic that sounds like a Herbert prophecy. Far from hiding behind a wall of fuzz or a mountain of reverb, the three voices dictate the tone and invoke an urgent need to do something in a world on the brink of chaos. Their debut album ‘Chasing Ghosts’ was released in March 2023, backed up by a fifty-date tour in France (including festivals such as Ecaussystème, Musicalarue, Montauban en scènes, Guitare en Scène, V&B Fest and support slots with bands such as MADAM, Pogo Car Crash Control, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and It It Anita).

Their second album will be released on June 6th 2025 on LE CÈPE RECORDS & STOLEN BODY RECORDS. After a first single, ‘‘PRESSURE’‘ released in April, the band will reveal on Friday a second track from the album, “PREDATOR” : youtube.com/watch?v=vudrz5XHbK8

Fierce and visceral, “Predator” explores the fragile boundary between human nature and primal instinct. It’s a raw track about survival, fear, and the predator that lies dormant within each of us. With powerful vocals and a relentless rhythm, it delivers an urgent message—where rock becomes a weapon against apathy. “Predator” is more than just a song; it’s a cry against the loss of our humanity. Shot like the final episode of a thrilling B-movie, the “Predator” music video picks up where Pressure left off. Deep within the belly of a cave, the Lizard Corp industrialists have gone too far, recklessly exploiting Draconite, a stone of mystical energy. Mutated into reptilian creatures, they launch a savage hunt for Moros through the scorched landscapes of a dying planet. Rescued at the last moment by a mysterious guardian inspired by Quetzalcoatl, Moros sets off for Agartha—a legendary city where she hopes to find a glimpse of peace.

Keep your mind open.

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[Merci á Angi á NRV Promotion!]