CD reviews

Ty Segall

Lemons
(Goner)
*8.9*
Goes well with: The Oblivians, The Reatards, Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps

There are people who like to dick around with instruments. There are people who like being on stage. And then, there are musicians like Ty Segall, who were seemingly born to carry the rock ’n’ roll banner.

The indefatigable Segall is up to the task. He’s been tearing up the San Francisco garage-rock scene for years with Epsilons, Traditional Fools and The Fresh & Onlys, and late last year he signed on as the drummer for Sic Alps. That’s in addition to his solo project, which recently mutated from one-man-band to touring trio with some of his Goner label-mates.

The new record is a nice mix of rawk and squawk. The lead track, “It #1,” is an affected piece of stomp with a down-tempo beat, thick and sludgy guitars and howling vocals. Some of the slower tunes, like “Cents” and “In Your Car,” are morose and stripped down to pop essentials, but the songs just keep getting heavier and heavier. The slowest song on the record, “Rusted Dust,” is deep with echo and redolent with reverb that shows off Segall’s vocals.

Then there are get-up-and-go jams like “Can’t Talk” and “Johnny” that are relentless from start to finish and as fast and strange as anything you’ll find on a Jay Reatard record. There’s even a cover of Captain Beefheart’s “Drop Out Boogie” that has a “we’re all in this together” party vibe—except you have to make your way through a blistering wall of feedback to get there.

Segall may have you believe he’s served up a bunch of lemons, but there’s not a sour note in the mix.

The Minus 5

Killingsworth
(Yep Roc)
*7.6*
Goes well with: R.E.M., Wilco, Young Fresh Fellows

As frontman for cult Seattle rockers Young Fresh Fellows, Scott McCaughey was the ultimate class clown. The group was known for cracking crowds up—what else could you expect from a band with tunes like “Get Outta My Cave,” “My Friend Ringo” and “Beer Money”?

But as the Fellows devolved into a once-a-decade type of band, McCaughey’s one-time side project slowly morphed into his primary gig. The Minus 5 provided a better outlet for the darker side of his songwriting, as the material veered a bit more toward Neil Young than Ray Davies.

Here, McCaughey has enlisted the help of The Decemberists, which leads Killingsworth to feel a bit like the band’s 2003 collaboration with Wilco (the aptly titled Down With Wilco). But where that album was drenched in the bleeps and blips that Wilco was still mesmerized with before they parked the tour bus in front of the Dad Rock Emporium, Killingsworth is probably the most straight-up alt-country album that McCaughey has penned yet.

Or maybe it’s just his Muswell Hillbillies—one of those efforts where a pop heart still beats beneath a country sheen. If you’re looking for the cream of the crop, check out the Colin Meloy-sung “Scott Walker’s Fault,” which rides pedal steel straight to the finish line. And fear not, McCaughey fans—he still sneaks in zingers like “Your wedding day was so well planned / like a German occupation,” proving his skills as a humorist are, like his skills as a songwriter, firmly intact.

Made in Mexico

Guerillaton
(Skin Graft)
*6.6*
Goes well with: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Displaced, GoGoGo Airheart

World music and concept albums haven’t exactly been dominated by art-punk bands, but Rhode Island’s Made in Mexico make the case for a combination of both on their sophomore effort, Guerillaton. Mixing lively reggaeton beats, thrash-jazz arrangements and emotionally raw vocals, the quartet is almost convincing, too.

On the title-track opener (and next five tracks, really), the blueprint of the songs remains the same: staccato, Caribbean-influenced percussion, minimalist guitar figures and beautifully huffed lyrics, courtesy of frontwoman Rebecca Mitchells. Not until the flamenco ballad “Villa Tranquila” do they mix things up, using Spanish guitar scales and weirdo noise samples to add some diversity to their punkanista mural.

From there on, the album actually starts to swing, as if the ballad break recalibrates the rhythm section, and the rest of the songs—especially the Obama-homage “Yes We Can”—shoots the entire enchilada off in new directions.
—Will K. Shilling

Made in Mexico play Saturday, July 25, at Che Café.