Ty Segall – Ty Segall

Ty Segall is a punk rock songwriter who is prolific across a variety of acts, sort of a Robert Pollard for this generation. That lo-fi ‘throw it all against the wall and see what sticks’ method can favor quantity over quality, but for his self-titled record he’s picked better, across a musical range.

Ty Segall does start off with the kind of big seventies grunge-rock that Segall is known for – first song title “Break a Guitar” might be Segall’s mission statement. However, after a few sub-par punk jams, the record often traffics in a more relaxed, less rock side of Segall. “Talkin’” is a nice, relaxed kiss-off, while “Orange Color Queen” and “Papers” are more like late period Beatles. Of course, there is still some rock, such as the fun garage-ride “Thank You Mr. K”, and the sweet “Take Care (To Comb Your Hair)” gets a guitar rock solo. Plus the album ends with a single fuzzed electric guitar chord in “Untitled”, which might just be the most Ty Segall-y thing ever.

Prolific artists always run the risk of being too wide, too shallow, of distracting from lack of depth with oversupply of material. Segall can get that way, but Ty Segall is a more choice collection.