I kept reading about Ty Segall and his various bands in the pages of magazines like Uncut and Mojo and thinking that his records seemed to be up my alley - almost everything labelled psychedelic is, except for drugs. I don't doubt that music makes the drug experience better, but I'm pretty sure that the drugs don't make the music any better. That's just the addicts' view: they need the drugs to enjoy music, dance, fuck, or do anything that non-addicts enjoy just fine without drugs. Just voicing my opinion, you understand. I'm not opposed to adults using drugs recreationally (or drink, or smoke) if they choose to. After all I live in Holland where soft drugs have been legal for decades, and I haven't seen any harm coming from that. But I've had enough with that mythologizing nonsense about "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To" (as Spacemen 3 put it).
Anyway, Ty Segal reviews always mention psychedelia, garage rock, glam and -crucially- lots and lots of fuzz guitar. Now, I like fuzz. A band called The Fuzztones were my teenage idols. As long as there's some melody and/or groove. Reviews on "Manipulator" reported that the fuzz monster had been tamed, though certainly not exorcised completely. The production is clean and pop hooks abound, making this what everybody calls Ty's most "accessible" album, thus clearly the place to start. Opener "Manipulator" is dominated by an oscillating analogue synth reminiscent of electro pioneers Silver Apple, though not without a healthy dose of screeching electric guitar. "Tall Man Skinny Lady" is a smooth funky listen until the guitar solo, which sounds like aliens unleashing a secret weapon. "The Singer" is a Flaming Lips-style ballad with strings and an almost conventional blues solo while on "It's Over" groovy 60's garage meets proto-shoegazers Jesus & Mary Chain. "Feel" is a Zeppelin-ish hard rocker straight from the 70's, while "The Faker" and "The Clock" take us back to the 60s by way of The Yardbirds and Love with Arthur Lee, respectively. The acoustic boogie of "Green Belly" is where the self-professed T-Rex influence becomes most evident, but the Bolan/Bowie similarities are also to be found on "The Hand", "Don't You Want to Know? (Sue)", the Stonesy "Who's Producing You?" and "Stick Around", and the motorick rhythm-propelled of "Mister Main". "The Connection Man" and "The Crawler" are more fuzz laden garage rockers, and "The Feels" sounds like a Syd Barrett track with guitar overdubs by Nick Saloman (a.k.a. The Bevis Frond), while "Susie Thumb"'s combination of social satire and fuzz guitar brings to mind The Kinks circa 1966. So you see, one way or another, I've used all major rock references of the period between '66 and '73 to explain how this album sounds. Though it still doesn't sound like a retro relic (the way e.g. Fuzztones albums do) Segall has obviously immersed himself in classic rock songwriting and here freely appropriates elements for his own use. It's as if he really needed to show the world he was capable of producing a perfectly structured classic rock record before returning to his multifarious and impulsive discography. All I can say to this is... mission accomplished!
Anyway, Ty Segal reviews always mention psychedelia, garage rock, glam and -crucially- lots and lots of fuzz guitar. Now, I like fuzz. A band called The Fuzztones were my teenage idols. As long as there's some melody and/or groove. Reviews on "Manipulator" reported that the fuzz monster had been tamed, though certainly not exorcised completely. The production is clean and pop hooks abound, making this what everybody calls Ty's most "accessible" album, thus clearly the place to start. Opener "Manipulator" is dominated by an oscillating analogue synth reminiscent of electro pioneers Silver Apple, though not without a healthy dose of screeching electric guitar. "Tall Man Skinny Lady" is a smooth funky listen until the guitar solo, which sounds like aliens unleashing a secret weapon. "The Singer" is a Flaming Lips-style ballad with strings and an almost conventional blues solo while on "It's Over" groovy 60's garage meets proto-shoegazers Jesus & Mary Chain. "Feel" is a Zeppelin-ish hard rocker straight from the 70's, while "The Faker" and "The Clock" take us back to the 60s by way of The Yardbirds and Love with Arthur Lee, respectively. The acoustic boogie of "Green Belly" is where the self-professed T-Rex influence becomes most evident, but the Bolan/Bowie similarities are also to be found on "The Hand", "Don't You Want to Know? (Sue)", the Stonesy "Who's Producing You?" and "Stick Around", and the motorick rhythm-propelled of "Mister Main". "The Connection Man" and "The Crawler" are more fuzz laden garage rockers, and "The Feels" sounds like a Syd Barrett track with guitar overdubs by Nick Saloman (a.k.a. The Bevis Frond), while "Susie Thumb"'s combination of social satire and fuzz guitar brings to mind The Kinks circa 1966. So you see, one way or another, I've used all major rock references of the period between '66 and '73 to explain how this album sounds. Though it still doesn't sound like a retro relic (the way e.g. Fuzztones albums do) Segall has obviously immersed himself in classic rock songwriting and here freely appropriates elements for his own use. It's as if he really needed to show the world he was capable of producing a perfectly structured classic rock record before returning to his multifarious and impulsive discography. All I can say to this is... mission accomplished!
**** for Manipulator, Tall Man Skinny Lady, The Singer, It's Over, Feel, The Faker, The Clock, Green Belly, The Connection Man, Mister Main, Who's Producing You?,
*** for The Hand, Susie Thumb, Don't You Want to Know? (Sue), The Crawler, The Feels, Stick Around
This Spanish blog offers download links to this album:
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