Jarrad Wright - The Big Lez Show (2019)

 

Composer: Jarrad Wright (bonus track by SunflowerTwix)

Console: YouTube / Animation

Show Release Date: 2012 - 2018

Runtime: 43:06 (including the extra track)

Here's another short one. I have been in the mood for some non-game soundtracks lately so I figured I should either do this or my MOTY 2019. I'll save 2019's best movie for later. Instead, let's talk about a show I hold dear to my heart. 

The Big Lez Show is one of the greatest Australian comedies and animations ever made. I had initially found it after being recommended a bunch of good Australian animations. Of the list The Big Lez Show was the first and foremost one. This was back in 2017 after a bunch of Season 4 had been airing. I got into it a little late and a little after I had caught up they had announced the final movie. Things got in the way and I finally got around to watching it in November of 2019. I watched Choomah Island 2 with my brother. After seeing a couple clips he also fell in love with the show. 

The show is part of a genre I like to call "complextro" wherein the show/movie/comic starts off innocuous and as it progresses gets more and more complex, showing that it has a really deep lore. Other examples I would list would be 12 Oz. Mouse (2005 - present) (which starts off as a random adult swim comedy and turns into a time-traveling sci-fi opera), Humanity Has Declined (2005 - 2016) and Homestuck (2009 - 2016). Hell, maybe Adventure Time (2010 - 2018) would count too. 

The show follows Big Lez and his day-to-day adventures in the neighborhood. This mostly consists of bothering his neighbor Norton, getting high with Sassy or raising his son, Quinton. Well, that's how it starts off anyways. It quickly evolves into space fighting, DBZ-style plots, smoking volcanos, psychedelic trips, killing hordes of homer Simpson-looking things (choomahs) and adventures in a remote island off the coast of Australia. I don't want to give away too much about the plot, but boy does it get intense. 

The show also shows a huge progress in animation. The early episodes are animated very simply in MSPaint but as the show progresses so does the animation. By the end it's beautiful. Although, the poor quality fits perfectly with the episodes and the low budget helps it too. 

The entire series is viewable on YouTube where it was uploaded initially. 

The series concluded with a movie, Choomah Island 3: Denoument which premiered in theatres. However, despite the epic conclusion, Jarrad Wright has announced that there will be a number of spinoff shows released dedicated to each of the characters. The first one, Mike Nolan's Long Weekend released sometime after the movie and covered some of the events after the movie. There's more coming and I can hardly wait. 

Jarrad Wright is the mastermind of the show, providing the music, story and most of the voice acting. He released the soundtrack for the show sometime after the final movie in 2019. 

For the most part the show doesn't feature any music aside from select scenes. The soundtrack features music from both movies as well as the show. For the most part it's instrumental psychedelic folk and post-rock influence. The music features a lot in the drug sequences. It's very relaxing and calming. There's also a few of the non-drugged songs as well near the end. Lez's 'Brown Song' ballad is included as well as Sassy's metalcore guitar solo. 

I have included links below to purchase the soundtrack. Additionally, I have included SunflowerTwix's Choomah Island 2 remix. It's a 9 minute mix that blends the songs from the drug trip into one long piece just as it appeared in the movie. 

Big Lez Show Official on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/THEBIGLEZSHOWOFFICIAL

Purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Lez-Show-Soundtrack-Explicit/dp/B07NP2C5SV

Purchase on iTunes: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-big-lez-show-soundtrack/1453054586

SunflowerTwix's Bonus Track: https://soundcloud.com/sunflowertwix/big-lez-show-choomah-island-2-ost-full