Ty Segall

Ty Segall (2017)

ExileOnKingSt

Ty Segall’s prolificacy is as much a part of his identity as the scuzzy garage rock style he has pumped out as a solo artist for a decade now. Albums are often distinct genre exercises, from the sludgy rock of Slaughterhouse, to the shambling acoustic guitars on Sleeper, and finally to the surrealist garage nightmare of Emotional Mugger. Last year’s Ty Segall, his second eponymous record, sought to bring together his disparate styles into one cohesive album, much akin to Twins from 2012. The legendary Steve Albini handled engineering duties for the album.

The fun kicks off with “Break a Guitar,” barreling in with overblown fuzz and laying on some J. Mascis-worthy guitar noodling. “Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)” is the album’s 10 minute epic. It takes its time building from a climbing gentle distortion to full on assault as Segall snarls “I wasted life wondering why / I was working for you,” inevitably exhausting itself and then drifting off into the California night. Subsequent track “Talkin” takes a dusty seat next to the saloon piano with the ghost of Gram Parsons for a honky tonk crawl to lament West Coast solipsism. “The Only One” alternates fuzzy divebombs with squirrely tag team laser beam riffs. The chugging “Thank You Mr. K” is the perfect soundtrack for a toilet assault.

Gentle “Orange Color Queen” is a sunny convertible ride through the California canyons, sighing love for Segall’s “cherry fizzle sundae” “orange color lady.”

Overall, this album is an excellent introduction to the vast discography of garage wildman Ty Segall and corrals all of his strengths into a concise package. 2018 also looks to be a promising year for Segall fans as advance singles from new album Freedom’s Goblin have been equally as strong as his most recent work.