Ty Segall‘s latest, self-titled album – the ninth in his discography – starts with the dirty, riff-driven track “Break a Guitar”. It’s the perfect opener for an album full of more dirty, riff-driven tracks and sets the scene. Segall’s voice stays within an easy range and complements the rest of the instruments, with its familiar scratchy tone.
Second track “Freedom” and third track, “Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)”, blend together so effortlessly, I thought it was the same, very long song during my first listen. “Freedom” is a lighter, quicker track that barely lasts two minutes. The slight pause between it and “Warm Hands…” is easily mistaken for an effect in the song, and it’s not until the seven minute mark of the ten minute spanning “Warm Hands…” that I realized they are two different tracks. The guitars in “Warm Hands…” never stop, making their point by pounding every note played. The distortion throughout, paired with the off-beat drumming, adds an extra scattered, messy quality.
“Talkin'” takes the pace way down, and strips the instruments back. The drumming is a lot lighter, and the walking bass line is there just to keep time. The guitar has its solo moments, but it’s slowed right down to keep a blues rhythm and isn’t screaming like it was in previous tracks. Segall’s voice has a much larger range in this track, the slow tempo gives him more room to hit higher notes.
“The Only One” brings it back to the heavy drumming, distorted guitar, and rambling solos. The end of the song is a psychedelic trip; with guitar riffs and solos battling it out for supremacy until they finish each other off with a last squeal. “Thank You Mr K” is an energetic, quick track reminiscent of early Queens of the Stone Age.
“Orange Color Queen”, another stripped back track, is the most romantic of the album – written for his girlfriend who helps him with his fear of flying – with Segall singing,”Oh, you’re my orange lady, oh, you’re my silver lips of honey, oh, you’re my cherry fizzle sundae, oh, you’re a tree inside of an airplane.”
This self-titled album is a great mix of garage, blues, rock, and psych music, all styles the modern music scene is somewhat lacking today (except for those freaks King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, of course.)
This album was a great reminder that this style of music, and talent, still exist in 2017. Luckily, some artists are still all about the music, man. I’ll be honest, I had never heard of Ty Segall before hearing this album, and I’m delighted to have eight more of his albums to find and enjoy as a result.
Review Score: 8.4 out of 10.
Ty Segall is out now.
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