Ty Segall - Twins (CD, Vinyl LP)

How can a band be so damn prolific but also responsible for so many consistently great records? Segall is kinda like The Stones to fellow travellers Thee Oh Sees’ Beatles, to carve a crude and trite analogy into the brawny arm of rock criticism. Just a bit rougher round the edges and (these days) slightly heavier/grungier/more ragged. His albums increasingly demand our attention due to their amped-up take on driving psychedelic garage replete with light splashes of bent-out-of-shape stoner rock. His sometimes folksier beginnings have now, like Dwyer & co, developed a raucous life and distinctive style of their own and baby, we’re all ears now.

‘Twins’ sees him/them/”it” returning to Drag City with another raw, catchy and gutsy record that is notable for keeping the feral harmonies as sweet ‘n’ timeless but getting more forceful, louder and denser, the trippy shredding and wild riff-brandishing getting more frazzled, way-out and impressive. Their current live show is a good indication of how much this record totally rocks. We find it nice here at The Towers when a band so comfortable in the clothes of yesteryear build something sonically fresh and almost combustible from the traditional classic ingredients.