Sunday, May 13, 2012

Ty Segall / White Fence, Hair, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review


Last year, I took CoolDaughter #1 to a Miranda Cosgrove concert in Montclair, NJ.  After we got home, I poured myself a glass of bourbon and put on The Velvet Underground and Nico.  As I listened to that album, I couldn’t help  thinking about what people in 1966 or 1967 must have thought of the music.  The sound and the subject matter really were out  there for the time.

Today, after CoolMom peeled off from our run to take CoolDaughter #2 to the park, I pressed play on Hair, the collaboration between Californians Ty Segall and White Fence (Tim Presley).  I couldn’t help thinking about what all those girls and their parents at that Miranda Cosgrove show would have thought of this.  Compared to what's popular today, Hair is pretty out there.

Hair is a psych-rock throwback to the same era that produced The Velvet Underground and Nico.  The sound is heavily rooted in late era Beatles / early solo John Lennon with a bit more noise and distortion.  The album is a short burst of psychedelia at a running time of about thirty minutes.

Single “I Am Not a Game” starts off with a keyboard riff that runs through the whole track.  The lead vocals and the backing ooohs and aaaahs, along with the production give the song a “Lucy in the Sky” feeling.  “Crybaby” is  two-minutes of psych-punk rockabilly featuring some nicely distorted vocals and guitars and a piano break.  Album-closer “Tongues” is another dreamy, Lennon-inspired jam and does a good job summing up the feel of the whole album.

Hair, in typical garage rock fashion, draws on an earlier time and updates that sound while paying homage to it.  This album isn’t for everyone.  If you’re someone like me who loves to alternate between playing “spot the influence” and just getting lost in the fuzz and reverb, then this will be a half-hour well-spent.  But if you’re easily bored by the stoner jams of the late 60's, or if you’re a fan of Miranda Cosgrove, this album could seem a lot longer.

Head over to Pitchfork to listen to / download "I Am Not a Game."

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