Ty Segall is a busy man to say the least. He released a collaborative LP with White
Fence earlier this year that garnered him a good bit of praise, and he will put
out a solo record later this year as well.
His second LP of 2012, Slaughterhouse,
is the first with his touring lineup The Ty Segall Band. It finds Segall going harder and heavier into
the worlds of garage and psych rock than ever before.
The most readily apparent change on this record is the
richness of sound that a full band affords Segall. His guitar riffs have always been blown out,
but this time around they sound a lot more authoritative and even more
in-your-face, just look at the title track which moves past in a loud,
psychedelic blur.
Slaughterhouse comprises
10 tracks that fly by in about 40-minutes, and for that whole time Segall and
his mates have the pedal mashed to the floor.
Opening track ‘Death’ foreshadows the breakneck pace of the rest of the
record, but it’s also the most melodic song of the bunch and that makes it something
to remember. ‘The Tongue’, ‘Muscle Man’
and ‘Tell Me What’s Inside Your Heart’ are also easy to access, in as much as
surf rock with anger issues carries a broad appeal.
Elsewhere though the emphasis is on being as loud and sludgy
as possible. ‘I Bought My Eyes’, ‘The
Bag I’m In’ and 10-minute closing track ‘Fuzz War’ are more concerned with
being noisy and taking the psych freak-out to another level.
Segall and his band are so successful on Slaughterhouse mostly because they never
relent. When everything is said and done
a swath of destruction is left in it’s wake, and the listener is left to catch
their breath. It’s an abrasive album for
sure, but it doesn’t sacrifice melody in the pursuit of being loud, something
that will keep people coming back for more and more punishment.
Grade: B+
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