Garage rock and psychedelic experimentalist Ty Segall is back with his thirteenth album – yes thirteenth – the latest entry to his extensive back catalogue. There are signs on First Taste of a less consistent genius, however, as Ty turns to mad-professor-experimentation with varying results.
The first half of the album features the mainly botched batches of these experiments: ‘I Worship the Dog’ and ‘Whatever’ are the ill-fated children of a man’s crusade against convention. With an emphasis on absurdism and an unorthodox approach to rhythm, the songs come off as bafflingly contradictory with a lack of consistent identity, like mashing together too many colours and coming away with a lumpy awkward grey.
During the majority of the first few songs, Segall’s augmented vocals appear detached and disjointed from the rest of the track. It isn’t all bad though: there’s the optimistic ‘Ice Plant’ which, in large parts, features no instrumentals, only the ever-changing vocal harmonies which achieve perfect balance time and again. A fascinating dynamic, if not slightly unsettling in giving off the same friendly, warming vibe as the cult in Midsommar.
From the halfway mark onwards, Ty nails much more concise and consistent guitar hooks, taking influences from folk music and blending them with rock. At the pinnacle of this blend is ‘Lone Cowboys’ – the jubilant closing track that sets you on a winding path towards elation. The colourful, more psychedelic moments are the ones which blow up in Segall’s face, however, failing to supply you with much-needed euphoria and escapism.
Haiku Review
Ty Segall is back:
Psychedelic blemishes,
With a dash of folk,
