Ty Segall: Three Bells

Is Ty Segall the hardest-working weirdo in rock-and-roll? It sure feels that way some[1]times. The California-born garage-rock troubadour has released 15 solo albums in as many years, plus collaborative albums with White Fence and Mikal Cronin. He’s been a member of about 10 other bands, including one with his wife. Oh, and he tours—a lot. With so much material to sort through, it can be hard to keep up—but Three Bells, Segall’s latest solo LP, is one to bookmark. Arriving on the heels of the largely acoustic, mellowed-out Hello, Hi, Three Bells is a consistent blast—muscular guitar grooves, complex and interlocking rhythms, and some fun, funky freakouts that’ll sound incredible live. Segall wrote a number of these tunes on the drums, and the album’s percussive punch is front and center throughout. Check out the slow, lumbering churn of “Wait,” where those drums are topped by buzzsaw guitars and somersaulting bass. Add Segall deadpanning, “We can go there right now/ To the place where the music’s louder/ Dancing to the song that’s never over,” and you can picture him writing the tune with your blissed out mind. Then, naturally, the song explodes into a squall of dueling guitar solos. “Denée,” named after Segall’s wife, is all ascending riffs, hand-claps, cowbells and thundering bass drum—plus Segall’s voice chopped up and skewed. It feels like a fitting ode for a musical partnership that’s resulted in so much raw rock. Three Bells hits its peak with “Hi Dee Dee,” which hits like a fuzzed-out T. Rex— loose, dangerous, blazing. It’s easy to lose count of Ty Segall’s projects, but don’t lose out by missing this one.