Austin – So, $ingle$ 2 is a joke, right? Not as in a bad record, more like the obvious sarcasm of the record’s title is completed by a track listing tailored to put off wannabe fans, and anyone looking to soundtrack a car commercial. The first song could easily have been selected for broad listen-ability, with a song like “For Those Who Weep” or “Falling Hair.” Ty Segall opted instead for the scream-guitar of “Spiders” and “Hand Glams.” Coming from an artist whose whole deal is a sound that’s aggressively contra to easy listening, it seems like the order of these songs wasn’t thoughtless.
Which is more to say that, intentional or not, it’s impressive that the alt-rocker’s back catalogue contains material that can pass credibly for an original record, complete with an overall message of anti-commercial provocation. That impression is buoyed by a catalogue that’s grown considerably, in size and deftness, since his 2010 compilation, Singles. While the latter was loaded with 25 songs, $ingle$ 2 (out this week on Drag City) comes in at just 12, including a set of three heavily promoted covers from Velvet Underground, The Groundhogs, and GG Allin. As the name implies, these songs are (mostly) drawn from already released B-sides, but with Ty’s rapid output, medium-core fans will appreciate the summary, and probably discover something new to love.
The most lovable track on this record probably goes to “It’s a Problem” or “Music for a Film.” Just like Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” is not actually all that patriotic, “Music for a Film” is not actually very good film score music. There is something undeniably James Bond-ish about the rattling drums and groovy guitar accents, but it has too much screech and fuzz to be an accompaniment to anything. I’ve never seen a Ty Segall show, but if this isn’t a mid-set extended jam then I think he’s doing it wrong.
“It’s a Problem”, by comparison, is a great feature-ette of Ty Segall’s best moments—a spot-on 60’s and 70’s hard rock/garage progression, with a near-octave vocal leap that can’t help but remind me of “She’s Not There” and some noise interludes in case that Zombies comparison had you too comfortable.
The noise, for that matter, often belies some great melodic songwriting. Second song “Hand Glams” reels you in with a fuzz-bass hook before burying it under a mountain of noise. You can still hear it down there, somewhere under all that panicked guitar.
As good as these cuts are, this record justifies its existence partly on the basis of its covers. So how are the covers? “Femme Fatale” wasn’t my favorite Velvet Underground. Ty Segall’s barely recognizable, frantic cover is a song I can love. I knew nothing about The Groundhogs going in, and while Segall adds a lovely touch to this song, I’m not sure it’s enough to make me a Groundhogs fan for life. If I owned a vinyl copy of this record, I would take a belt sander to the grooves containing GG Allin’s “Pettin’ the Dog” on moral grounds—which is all I’ll say about choosing to honor a criminally loathsome musician like Allin. I would be less offended if Segall completely ripped off the song and called it his own, since he does a pretty good job with it.
Despite going one for three with the covers, $ingle$ 2 gets an overall green light. While strictly speaking, these songs are available elsewhere, $ingle$ 2 does a better-than-usual job justifying their bundling-together, and makes this record a rare example of a compilation album that’s, you know, actually an album.
Ty Segall has a few dates starting in early December. So if you’re a fan of this or other albums (some of which we’ve gotten to write about), you may want to keep an eye on his tour schedule.
Photo by Dene Petracek
Will Jukes
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