Just when you think you know Ty Segall as the modern king of psych rock, he blasts any preconceptions you have of him into outer space, as the ‘Whirlybird’ soundtrack released earlier this year demonstrated. Hot on the heels of that epic, comes his latest studio album ‘Hello, Hi’. There’s always been a touch of T. Rex and even Bowie in Segall’s vocal delivery, and on tracks like the opening two ‘Good Morning’ and ‘Cement’ he channels that into the more folk facing styles of early Bolan. The fuzz pedals can’t stay hidden for too long though and on the title track the decibels rocket upwards as the chunky riffs and soaring guitar lines kick in,
Segall has always placed melodies at the heart of his songwriting and those melodies, whether catchy and upbeat or woozy and warped, still burst through on every tune. ‘I’m Looking At You’ has a Beatles esque floating psychedelia to its acoustic guitar lines, and ‘Don’t Lie’ has a mesmerisingly tuneful serenity.
‘Hello Hi’ is one of Segall’s more psych folk albums yet as with all his releases, manages to take melodies into unchartered waters whilst never losing sight of a big juicy pop hook. Many try but no-one blends the weird and wonderful with the ear tantalising tunefulness like Segall.
From the early days of creating handmade zines, in a DIY paper and glue style, interviewing bands around town, then pestering Piccadilly Records to sell them, to writing for various independent mags such as Chimp and Ablaze, writing about the music I love is still a great passion. After testing the music industry waters in London with stints at various labels, being back in my hometown again, writing about this city’s vibrant music scene is as exciting as ever. All time favourite bands include Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Patti Smith although anything from electro to folk via blues and pysch rock will also do nicely too. A great album, is simply a great album, regardless of whatever musical cage you put it in.
