Ty Segall’s brain must be constantly working over time, song ideas spilling out faster than his fingers can manage to transpose them to the guitar. At the tender age of 27 Segall has released seven albums, a count which doesn’t even include the numerous other projects he is associated with. Manipulator makes album number eight and it’s bursting with sounds that span right across the musical spectrum.
Title track Manipulator is organ-driven and reverb-soaked, with a quirky pop bounce akin to bands like Small Faces and The Kinks, had they been of a more fuzzy garage-rock persuasion. Tall Man Skinny Lady is steeped in funk rhythms but delivered as lo-fi pop – it’s all acoustic guitars strumming fervently.
Beatles melodies abound in The Singer, a reminder that long gone are the days when Segall could simply be referred to as a proponent of garage rock. It’s Over is wild psych-rock, wailing guitar solos peppering every break between vocals. If the bass line in Feel doesn’t make you want to grind on the dance floor, nothing will – Segall’s falsetto is perfect, the solo cranks and a stripped back interlude teases suitably until the return of the huge centerpiece riff. Mister Main creeps along, hard-working dirty funk with a sinister edge.
The clean guitar tone on The Clock is almost jarring and with the inclusion of violin, at first the song feels out of place in what has so far been an album laden heavily with guitar effects. Still, Segall manages to pull it off, the sweet pop offering just as tasty as the intense psych-rock.
After the singular vision of Sleeper, Manipulator is erratic by comparison but unsurprising in the fact, considering Segall’s similarly inconsistent (but equally engaging) earlier output.
Segall’s talent is undeniable and Manipulator is proof that it’s possible to cover a lot of ground on an album as long as you know what you’re doing.
BY KRYSTAL MAYNARD
Best Track: Feel
If You Like This, You’ll Like These: NIGHT BEATS, COACHWHIPS, WOODEN SHJIPS,
In A Word: Killer
