2013 has already been an extremely exciting year for fans of the Bay-Area rock god Ty Segall. Not only have we been given the Sabbath-inspired powerhouse trio that is FUZZ, but we have also been gifted with a brand new solo album that shines the spotlight on a whole new Ty that we haven’t seen in previous releases. Sleeper is out now via Drag City and it showcases a more melancholic and mostly acoustic Segall, a first for fuzzed-out rocker. Sleeper was written shortly after Ty’s adopted father’s death and the event has a strong and obvious influence on the album. Songs are sadder and deal with mostly acoustic, minor chords layered with heart-wrenching strings which can be heard on the first track, “Sleeper”. Even the less despondent songs seem to have something off about them, a certain unsettling tone that hasn’t been heard in his other albums. The seemingly playful “Crazy” with it’s major chord melody has a darkness surrounding it that comes out through Segall’s new personal lyricism. We hear these improvements in songs like “The Keepers” where Segall paints a portrait of a distant land where The Sleepers, Keepers, and Dreamers all coexist in a alternate deserted reality. While there are many changes in Ty’s songwriting and instrumentation, we are still given a lick or two of the raw distorted power that we are accustomed to with him in the end of “The Man Man”. NPR interviewed Segall and asked him about touring in support of his new album and the mostly acoustic set up that is the exact opposite of his new band FUZZ who seem to have been touring for most of 2o13. In his answer, Segall gives a shout out to the fans that came out to see him on August 1st at the Catalyst:
“I’ve always had a good time, not necessarily messing with people but doing stuff different each time and its fun to push it. And if people would want to listen this way then that’s really great and I’m honored that they could be that thoughtful to not need the giant amplifiers, you know? Those shows went so great. We were really freaked out and it was really cool. In Santa Cruz people were stage diving to an acoustic set. It was ridiculous and super fun.”
No surprise there. Santa Cruz can’t get enough of Ty and that remains the same with the release of Sleeper. From the beautiful strings and heartfelt lyrics of “She Don’t Care” to the slide-guitar powered jam “6th Street”, Segall has yet again made another prolific album start to finish.
Hear a track from Sleeper below, along with a cut from Ty’s new band FUZZ’s self titled out October 1st:
Sleeper:
Fuzz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m0Phb5zl_A
Hear these songs and more on the Great 88 for the rest of the summer quarter and on into fall.
-Brandon of the PRC