Ty Segall’s “Twins”

words C.W. KEATING

Ty Segall is not impressed by your shit.

Putting out albums at a breakneck speed (Ty Segall Band’s “Slaughterhouse” and White Fence collab “Hair” are the albums he’s released just this year), the garage rocker/punker/junker/grunger/’70s revivalist/whatever you want to call him’s output is prodigious enough to be applauded for quantity alone. The only thing is that these albums are really fucking good. He’s back at it again with his the full-length “Twins,” a triumphant album that sinks its teeth in and doesn’t let go.

“Twins” kicks off with “Thank God for the Sinners,” a mid-pace jam with enough distortion to keep a mohawked baboon happy and enough pop chops to make Brian Wilson wet the bed. “You’re the Doctor” struts and scraps with a raw punk force that recalls the early days of Iggy and the Stooges, while “Inside Your Heart” makes mincemeat out of the old “I have your heart” pop cliche with creepy lyrics like “Doctor doctor can’t you help me please, / is it really inside of me?” before slowing down to a Melvins-y dirge. Segall makes doom metal his own, and its never sounded better: tracks like “Ghost” and “Handglams” play like Vikings listening to “Dion and the Belmonts’ Greatest Hits” while sacking Lindisfarne.

Single “The Hill” opens with a beautiful vocal melody courtesy of Thee Oh See’s Brigid Dawson before plunging into what’s basically a “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” B-side. Yet “Twins” completely transcends these meager comparisons — and while Segall’s nasally drawl sounds like a near-perfect Lennon impression, the snarling delivery of lines like “There’s a problem in my head” is undoubtedly his own.

“Would You Be My Love” is another highlight, a poppy slice of rock ‘n’ roll that reaches as high as Segall’s falsetto. Ragers “They Told Me Too” and “Who Are You” serve as potent backdrops for Segall to explore his distinctive, treble-y guitar tone, and the album closes with the simple “Gold on the Shore” and apocalyptic “There Is No Tomorrow.” The final track is a particularly apt articulation of the guitar god’s anarchic playfulness and his “the-world’s-gonna-end-let’s-get-wasted-and-rock-out” worldview.

It’s no surprise that Segall is so popular — he taps into our culture’s inherent death urge, the desire for cataclysm, the desire for blood and fire, all while wearing a leather jacket, walking around town at night, and feeling invincible. “Twins” continues his pre-apocalyptic winning streak, pumping out megawatts of pomp, gristle, rattle, and capital-R Rock. Who knows if we’ll be listening to Ty after the worst has happened; maybe it won’t matter.

But you’re guaranteed to see me rocking out to “You’re the Doctor” in my little corner of the wasteland. Feel free to join.

Oh, and bring some gasoline. We’re gonna need that shit.

***

Full album stream here.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 am. It is filed under HAPPENINGS, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.