tysegall

Ty Segall‘s having his Bowie moment – complete with a new, messianic and androgynous look. Beyond the surface, he’s also combining the many musical hats he’s worn on previous records (like Bowie’s many eras), tapping into fuzzy noise, classic rock, psychedelia and a bit of glam. There are hints of bald-faced “manipulation” a la fake accents, but mostly, the aptly-titled Manipulator is a well-rounded and surprisingly good record – thanks in no small part to his guitar work.

Manipulator

This unobtrusive ride is threaded by a three-chord keyboard bounce with perfectly executed and placed guitar licks. As Segall ambiguously lyric-izes our day-to-day “manipulation” of each other, he uses a faux, Brit-glam accent that could signal Andy Kaufman-level japery or simple hypocrisy:

Manipulator

Tall Man, Skinny Lady

Like the track before it, “Tall…Lady” is basically a three-chord, loud-quiet jam with some summery “oohs” and “aahs.” Once again, Segall’s guitar antics make that quite alright – even if there’s lyrically little going on, save for needing love from someone (or a couple):

Tall Man, Skinny Lady

The Singer

Eh. 12/8 arpeggio ballad. Good one at that, but not particularly unique. Segall gets a slight Lennon in his voice, employs some pop strings, and crunches the backbeat with his guitar as he bemoans being a “singing” monkey for your entertainment. Once again, sweet shreds dropped in throughout:

The Singer

It’s Over

Some sort of relationship is ending, and it requires loud, fuzzy guitars and more of the snappy, slightly British voice. Segall uses cool chords and the groove is driving, but I could do with a trade from sassy Beatle voice here back to straight-up harsh:

It's Over

Feel

Segall falsetto-croons about sky “creeps” atop an over-extended jam that’s basically a simplified, sped-up version of the first section in “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin. It’d be great live, but the long guitar and drum solos just add to this bloated impression:

Feel

The Faker

Segall calls himself a fraud in the first line – maybe to lower expectations for the inevitable mid-album slump. We didn’t need 17 tracks, but here we are. While we all would like to “ask [our] boss man for a raise,” it doesn’t hold attention spans as well as previous tracks:

The Faker

The Clock

In interviews, both Segall and Jay Reatard have mentioned feeling a short window of opportunity to make music, resulting in an antsy, “race against the clock” feeling. Segall opines on that (and the similar reaction we all get from aging) in this matador-esque jam:

The Clock

Green Belly

The not-so-interesting saga of the documentary autobiographer is told, and the mid-album slump continues. Continued props to Segall though, for both his solid falsetto and for never relying on predictable, four-chord progressions:

Green Belly

The Connection Man

Striking an accessible/strange balance sonically, Segall gives us a lecture on how we make “connections” with others in little “pieces.” The result would make a decent soundtrack for the weirder parts of the Craigslist personals section:

The Connection Man

Mister Main

A dip into the well of Radiohead, getting funky-weird while Segall sings in a sky-high range about who knows what – possibly other successful songwriters, given the album’s “manipulation” theme. The spastic solos are strange without distortion, but they still charm if you let them:

Mister Main

The Hand

Once again, who knows what the “number man” dragging you “by the hand” particularly means, but it’s a good excuse for Segall to get Zeppelin-y some more on this slow rocker, finishing with an almost two-minute dual guitar solo. It borrows from cliché (e.g. hair metal “yeah!”), but isn’t overbearing:

The Hand

Susie Thumb

The two-song “Susie Thumb” story follows a fame-seeking girl with her whole life ahead of her, told with simple, repetitive lyricism. The first track uses a fuzzy, garage-rock approach, but unlike his previous garage-y material, he sticks with this album’s Jay Reatard-meets-The Beatles vocal style:

Susie Thumb

Don’t You Want To Know? (Sue)

And the second track feels more ‘60’s psychedelic, which makes it the more (understatedly) appealing of the two. Whether that makes up for or benefits from the even simpler (and more repetitive) lyricism here is up to the listener:

Don't You Want to Know (Sue)

The Crawler

He’s a creepy “crawler,” swooping on your “daughter,” with a fuzz guitar that “oughta” make you move. In all, this one feels like filler, but up-tempo filler is the best kind. Plus, even the predictable tracks on this album eschew the tired four-chord template:

The Crawler

Who’s Producing You?

Groovy, maraca-sexy rock that only boasts a few superfluous “yeahs” serves as the backdrop for Segall’s diatribe on backroom casting couch sessions and general sleep-to-the-top tactics. The vague lyricism leaves ambiguous whether he’s judging or celebrating the combining of business and pleasure:

Who's Producing You?

The Feels

The most linearly coherent message comes on this power ballad of sorts – so of course it comes with an internet-meme-ironic title. The 60’s-70’s vocal style (a la Bowie, Pink Floyd, etc.) is especially strong here, but Segall’s way with chords still keeps it from feeling stale:

The Feels

Stick Around

Wrapping up the album is a sunny finale where Segall explicitly (and cheekily) tells you to demand an encore from him (perfect for live use). Just to throw a wrench in the works, there’s an orchestral non sequitur at the end, but otherwise it’s another pleasant, jam-friendly blues track:

Stick Around