Ty Segall outdoes himself on The Manipulator

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      Ty Segall
      The Manipulator (Drag City)

      At this point, it’s almost assured that hard-working U.S. psych figure Ty Segall will deliver at least one album’s worth of material a year, but the fuzz-flinger has outdone himself with The Manipulator. Clocking in at just under an hour and featuring 17 tracks, it’s a monolithic entry into an already prolific catalogue and further flexes his fabulously freaky chops.

      The guitars are initially dialled down on the album, with the opening title cut first presenting a paisley swirl of circus-set pipe organ. Just as Segall sings about delivering “drug rock that’s smooth as silk”, though, twin six-string licks and speaker-cone-rupturing power chords quickly take over. The snaking melodies likewise pepper the comparatively laid-back groove of “Who’s Producing You?”.

      As on previous LPs, Segall succeeds best when the sonics are overblown. Perhaps inspired by a recent move to Los Angeles, “Susie’s Thumb” has the vocalist detailing the starry-eyed titular character’s attempts to make it into show biz, on top of a Blue Cheer–inspired, lysergide-laced rave-up. Elsewhere, “Tall Man, Skinny Lady” mixes the lo-fi antifolk vibe of early Beck with a glammy, Ziggy Stardust–approved falsetto. Other pathways on the LP find Segall exploring mud-caked funk (“Feel”), strings-assisted Laurel Canyon country-rock (“The Clock”), and melancholy waving guitar anthems (“The Feels”).

      Despite the runtime, The Manipulator is an expertly paced affair and another solid effort from the current king of West Coast fuzz rock.

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