In 11 years, Ty Segall has released 13 records, various EPs, numerous singles, played umpteen shows and put out a plethora of collaborative projects under many different guises. Rumour has it the California dweller doesn’t sleep and can be in more than one place at a single time (ok, this bit is a big fat lie but when does this guy sleep?!). Continuing his rich slew of productivity, Segall has readied the 13th instalment in his burgeoning back catalogue; ‘First Taste’ finds the creative polymath forge ahead with his own brand of fuzzy garage rock, whilst broadening his sonic palette further once more, be expanding into sounds closer to psyche-rock, jazz and glam.

Fuzziness is, and always be, key to a Ty Segall release and ‘First Taste’ is no exception, kicking off with the warped garage-rock rev of ‘Taste’, that wiggles and shakes with a rough ‘n’ ready swagger. ‘The Fall’ adopts a rampant tribal motif that’s then married to Segall’s gnawing, stomp through rock’s grubbier outer reaches. It’s here where you feel our protagonist freewheeling as the track splinters off into spontaneous tangents, typified by Animal from The Muppets-esque drum solo found at the song’s core. ‘When I Met My Parents (Part 1)’ is a jaunty skip and gyrate through a pulsing riff and staccato percussion, while ‘I Worship The Dog’ is where the urgency is dialled down but the levels of fuzz are ramped up; siren like guitars combine with a grinding motif, as the track plays out with a demonic-like scree.

Elsewhere on ‘First Taste’ when Segall draws in different sounds, the record loses a little bit of its guttural edge and its general flow. Certainly, towards the end of the record, when jazzy nuances come into the fore, the cohesiveness takes a warble. Although, it’s a mostly hit instead of miss when the likes of ‘When I Met My Parents (Part 3)’ unfurls like a hazy acid trip or when album closer ‘Lone Cowboy’ shapeshifts from chaotic, sax underpinned rump shaking to delicate acoustic strums. Earlier on in the LP ‘Whatever’s farty brass parps and cyclical drums pave the way for the first endeavour into all things jazz and abstract. While ‘Ice Plant’ does away with instrumentation altogether to favour Ty singing over his own heavenly harmonised hue, as he urges “let your love rain down on me”. ‘Taste’ wouldn’t be impacted if ‘I Sing Them’ or ‘Radio’ were to be dropped, as they don’t quite carry the same impact as the rest of the album, while the less abrasive tracks have a dependency to sound a little dulled in comparisons to their rowdier compadres.

‘First Taste’ epitomises that in just over a decade Ty Segall has proven he’s up to the task of delivering delicious musical morsels time and time again.

Words and Thoughts of Adam Williams

First Taste by Ty Segall is now available via Drag City

Ty Segall & Freedom Band
Tour Dates

Fri. July 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Fri Aug. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Fri. Aug. 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Fri. Aug. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread)
Fri. Aug. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread)
Fri. Aug. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger)
Fri. Sept. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger)
Fri. Sept. 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Fri. Sept. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Fri. Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Tues. Oct. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Wed. Oct. 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Thurs. Oct. 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread)
Fri. Oct. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger)
Sat. Oct. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Wed. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Thu. Oct. 10 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Fri. Oct. 11 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Sat. Oct. 12 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread)
Sun. Oct. 13 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Tue. Oct. 15 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Thu. Oct. 17 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Fri. Oct. 18 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)