Ty Segall – Singles 2007-2010

Goner Records recently released Ty Segall – Singles 2007-2010 on a double vinyl LP. Over the past five years Ty Segall has been one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most prolific musicians, releasing six full length albums in between a seemingly non-stop touring schedule. In addition to his long playing records, he has also released a never ending stream of 7-inch singles, split records, live recordings, and limited releases. Not only does this album collect a few of those out of print rarities into one convenient package, but it also provides an excellent overview of the musician’s early career by tracking his meteoric rise from his humble lo-fi surf recordings to the more developed sound of his later work.

The A Side begins with the first two 7-icnhes of Ty Segall’s Career: It and Skin. They were both originally released in 2008 the same year he put out his self-titled debut LP. The B Side covers the year 2009. It starts with Cents which was the 7-inch companion to Lemons. After that is My Sunshine, later used on the album Melted. The disk finishes with by cover of “Maria Stacks” from a split record Ty released with Thee Oh Sees.

The difference between Side A & B are subtle, but they demonstrate a significant amount of growth in a short period of time. The B side has a slightly higher production quality. It still is lo-fi and fuzzy, but the guitars and vocals sound a lot more present and in-your-face. Ty Segall develops a more distinct singing style and stops doing a John Dwyer impression. His songwriting becomes heavier and more confident as his career progresses.

The second disk starts with Caesar. The title track, which was also the big single from his monumental 2010 album Melted, shows Ty Segall as a fully formed songwriter and recording artist. Now he sounds in control of his record, as if he his conducting a symphony of chaos. It retains the reverb-rich aesthetic of his early work, but its carefully layered vocals, guitar over-dubs, and piano solo prove that he can craft a musical masterpiece just as well as he can bang out a free-form psychedelic freak-out.

The remainder of this collection is comprised of unreleased demo tracks from for the Horn the Unicorn cassette, his self-titled, and Lemons as well as a couple tracks that are from some obscure 2010 compilations, and a Gories cover. There are a lot of rare and valuable nuggets to be found on this disk. The demo version of “Standing At the Station” sounds much more raw and unrestrained than the version he originally released. A few of the demo tracks are backed by a drum machine. It’s very interesting to hear the contrast between the mechanical rhythm of the drum machine and Ty Segall’s organic lo-fi style. It also adds a slightly voyeuristic element to the record to hear Ty in the process of crafting his record rather than the final polished product he intended for release.

This collection will prove invaluable to any fans of Ty Segall. For new listeners, it is an excellent way to delve into his early career. For long time fans, it is an easy way to collect many of his obscure rarities that would otherwise fade into oblivian.

Ty Segall – Skin

Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Surf Rock, Punk, Lo-Fi
Singles 2007-2010: Tracklist:
Side: A
1. Where We Go
2. It
3. Sweets
4. Son of Sam (Chain Gang)
5. Skin
6. Booksmarts
7. Ms. White
8. … And then Judy Walked In
Side: B
9. Cents
10. No No
11. Standing at the Station
12. My Sunshine
13. Fuzzy Cat
14. Maria Stacks (Thee Oh Sees)
Side: C
15. Caesar
16. Bullet Proof Nothing (Simply Saucer)
17. Lovely One (Demo)
18. Happy Creeps
19. Hey Big Mouth
20. Dating (Demo)
Side: D
21. So Alone (Demo)
22. Shoot You in the Head (Demo)
23. The Drag (Demo)
24. Standing at the Station (demo)
25. I Think I’ve Had It (Gories)