Noise

Album review: Ty Segall’s ‘Emotional Mugger’

Image

Four stars

Ty Segall Emotional Mugger

Ty Segall has long been a musical seeker—in a 2012 Weekly interview he listed Hawkwind, The Fugs, Gong and The Residents among key recent spins—and his latest album finds him putting his record collection to full use. Last year, for the first time since 2007, the California rocker didn’t release an LP under his own name, and Emotional Mugger suggests he spent much of that time mining for sonic gold. From the T. Rex-ian slink of “Squealer Two” to Beefheart-y twisted-blues stomp “Mandy Cream,” the Zappa-ish growls of “Emotional Mugger/Leopard Princess” to Kraut-like closer “The Magazine,” Mugger finds Segall referencing others and himself (see: the Fuzzed-out heavy-psych of “Californian Hills”), and smashing everything together for his most diverse ride yet. The spirit of exploration extends beyond the compositions to the production, which piles up effects and noises for a dense mix that keeps even more traditional Segall cuts like “Candy Sam” and “Diversion”—the latter featuring a truly massive guitar outro—feeling fresh. Weird collage piece “W.U.O.T.W.S.” initially seems like the album’s outlier, a slab of full-on experimental mayhem, until it clicks that it’s actually the peak moment, when its creators’ quest takes him somewhere completely new.

Share
Photo of Spencer Patterson

Spencer Patterson

Get more Spencer Patterson
Top of Story