Ty Segall: Twins
Ty Segall: Twins — With the indie rock scene growing tiresome, drowning in lifeless synths and sulking front men, we should all be thankful there’s a man out there capable of bringing it all back to life. While he’s steadily crawled his way out from the underground cult that is the garage rock scene and moved into the mainstream, Ty Segall has brought forth a new release that will knock you out just as much as it wakes you up.
Twins (Drag City) is Segall’s third release this year, but don’t let the quantity of his studio releases allow you to question the quality. While Slaughterhouse (In the Red) is a thrashing hard rock album and Hair is a psych-influenced collaboration with White Fence, Twins sounds like a blend of the two preceding albums with unhinged rock and roll frenzy and psychedelic jams merging together.
Segall manages to fold-in a variety of ingredients on Twins, such as fuzzy garage punk, some grunge-like power chords and pop hooks, and creates a tasty concoction that works. Perhaps this is how he can keep cranking out the records without anyone complaining about monotony. The songs are loud, yet melodic and while his voice sounds devious, his songs are sweet.
The standout single ‘The Hill’ features Brigid Dawson (from fellow San Francisco garage band Thee Oh Sees) accompanying Segall with folky 60’s sounding euphoric vocals that bleed into Segall’s distorted guitar riffs. ‘You’re the Doctor’ has the urgent sound of punk rock, leaning towards a Ramones influence with the repeating lyrics, “There’s a problem in my brain.” Songs like ‘Ghost’ and ‘There is No Tomorrow’ slow down for some dreamy crooning over guitar fuzz, with the latter ending the album with an affectionate yet a little sad “Come away with me” that makes you wish it wouldn’t end.
While each song on Twins has it’s strengths, the individual tracks may not stand out in your memory like the record will as a whole. But in the end, that seems okay. Segall creates an electric portrait of what modern rock and roll should sound like, with a little bit of heaven and a little bit of hell. Let him take you to that world of the in-between and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be head banging as you swoon…9/10