Music Review: Ty Segall, $ingle$ 2

By Less Lee Moore

Every time I hear someone complaining that rock and roll is dead, I cringe. This proclamation is usually accompanied by a rant against Miley Cyrus or whatever Top 40 artist is being hyped at the moment. Which leads me to wonder: is the concern that rock and roll is dead, or that it’s no longer at the top of the Billboard charts?

Any handwringing over the fate of rock and roll quickly falls apart in the presence of Ty Segall. For one thing, he’s clearly beholden to his forebears while still sounding vital and original. He also puts out a lot of music on a frequent basis. And he releases honest to goodness singles. Granted, a lot of bands release singles these days, especially via iTunes, but what makes Ty Segall’s singles special is that they come with B-sides, which, if we’re going the traditional route, is way more rock and roll because it evokes the format in which rock music ascended the charts: the vinyl 45.

Drag City has released a new Segall compilation amusingly titled $ingle$ 2. It gathers several out-of-print (another rock and roll throwback term, if you’re keeping score) B-sides and tracks from other labels spanning the last three or four years.

Because this is Ty Segall and he’s just that good, it actually works pretty well as an album and if the hour-long Manipulator album is still not enough for you (because this is Ty Segall and he’s just that good), $ingle$ 2 will scratch all of your itches.

“Spiders,” a dense feedback stomper, was originally released in 2011, along with “Cherry Red,” a faithful if truncated version of The Groundhogs’ 1971 original, and a fuzzy feedback-laden version of “Hand Glams,” which later showed up in simplified, stunning form on 2012’s Twins. “Falling Hair,” the B-side to 2011’s “I Can’t Feel It” (from Goodbye Bread), with its stuttering beat and shimmering chord changes, is so good it should’ve been on an album proper.

“Children of Paul” is a pleasing nostalgic tune that dovetails nicely with “It’s a Problem,” which sounds a bit like late ’90s Redd Kross. The danceable, immensely catchy “Mother Lemonade” (B-side to 2012’s “The Hill” single) is a showcase for Segall’s distinctive vocal style. He can rock, true, but Segall can also write a hell of a great melody, as is proven (yet again) by the beautiful, harmony-laden, acoustic “For Those Who Weep” (from the “Would You Be My Love” single).

The raunchy sax that opens “Fucked Up Motherfucker” is a surprise and a delight, sounding like T.Rex and The Stooges and The New York Dolls, and making me wish that Segall would employ sax on an entire album, not just one track. The shivery “ooohs” are divine. But the biggest surprise on $ingle$ 2 is the complete reboot of The Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale,” which rips the song to shreds, quite literally. This is how you do covers, people. Despite having no lyrics, the drum-heavy “Music For A Film” is sheer joy and I’ll humbly suggest that Segall produce more instrumental works even though his vocals are amazing.

I don’t know that I’ll ever grok GG Allin’s music. That said, “Pettin The Dog” is damn good. The original title, “Fuckin The Dog” was apparently cleaned up for this WFMU release, and although it’s not hard to imagine Allin singing about sex with animals, in this case it’s a euphemism for doing nothing at all. It’s another ironic twist from Segall who can seemingly do everything: write, sing, play guitar and drums, put on a killer live show, and do it all with the kind of youthful fire and remarkable graciousness that is rarely seen these days.

I’d prefer not to speculate on what kind of money Segall makes from his music, but I’m certain he’s not at Miley Cyrus levels of income. That doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t deserve to be. This kind of talent is a rare gift. As long as he keeps making music, I’ll keep giving him my money.

$ingle$ 2 was released by Drag City on November 18.