Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
2018 has barely started and Ty Segall's laying into us with 18 new tracks & a cover of Hot Chocolate's 'Every 1's A Winner'. What Ty are we getting this time - fuzzed-up and insanely barking or one of his more mellow, pop oriented incarnations?
The answer is both and more.
Opening track 'Fanny Dog' owes a debt to soul and that's further emphasised on the follow-up, 'Rain', which also gives the nod to the earliest days of jazz with its use of woozy horns throughout. Elsewhere the horns go off on a no wave tip ('The Main Pretender', 'Talkin' 3') with, apparently, Mikal Cronin blowing for all he's worth.
Elsewhere Segall & the band pick up the pace and thrash it out on 'When Mommy Kills You', 'Meaning' and 'Alta' so it's not all lunges off into new musical directions. It is though his most diverse album to date and, whilst not really a surprise as such, you can't help but be impressed at the breadth of talent exposed on it.
This is pop taken to extremes and new heights in equal measure.
Most tracks clock in at around the three or four minute mark but the stand out 'She' and final song 'And Goodnight' last six and 12 minutes respectively. 'She' is the sort of track anyone who's seen Segall live will be able to conjure a vision from - one of him and the band getting fully into it onstage and the audience going mental.
'And Goodnight', on the other hand, ably fills the role of closing song from a '70s rock set. Not quite anthemic, it nevertheless scales great heights and ably finishes off the album. Difficult as it is to see how a crowd would be calm enough for it after the frenzy Segall can whip them into, if anyone can pull it off it's him.
