Ty Segall – Ty Rex
Here was us thinking Ty Segall was having a quiet year! Of course, instead, he’s having none of it. Clearly dissatisfied with only tabling Fuzz’s sophomore belter in 2015 and tired of waiting for his Emotional Mugger to land January 2016, here he is re-releasing two T. Rex covers EPs originally released 2011 and 2013. If this is news to you, take a moment to let that sink in. Ty Segall covering ’67-’73-era T. Rex and calling the project Ty Rex. Some things are just meant to be. It also almost goes without saying that Ty Rex is wildly unnecessary as a document, but it’s a whole lotta fun all the same. Segall even goes so far as to affix a stomping bow to the collection, burning through a previously unreleased and overblown bonus rendition of the iconic “20th Century Boy”.
Does this project even need a review though? You either already know or can well imagine precisely what it’s going to be like – Segall pleasuring himself via the medium of guitar to the sounds and solos of Marc Bolan. True to form then, he tackles his fanboyism with characteristic abandon, his vocal reeling from the fairly faithful to the downright demonic. Pulling material from The Slider, Electric Warrior, A Beard of Stars, Unicorn, and Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages, Segall’s fuzzy riffathon stumbles and swaggers from glam classics to hippy obscurities, rock ‘n’ rolling one minute to “Woodland Rock” and taking in some enjoyable psychedelic melodies the next courtesy of a track like “Salamanda Palaganda”. Segall’s trademark fidelities crust and warp proceedings in places, sure, but these are pretty unmistakable songs treated with nothing but love and affection nonetheless.
~Ty Rex is released December 4th 2015 on Goner Records.~