Ty Segall

Eagle Rock Center for the Arts - July 22, 2011

Live Review by Bianca Barragan

Ty Segall's sold out show at the Eagle Rock Center For The Arts was just one of the concerts organized by the people who bring FYF to the Los Angeles State Historic Park every year.  FYF is highly anticipated by music-loving Angelenos and has been pulling out all the stops this year, holding concerts and free shows across town leading up to the festival on Labor Day weekend.

Segall's newest release, Goodbye Bread, out on Drag City no doubt had much to do with tickets selling out.  The record's slightly richer sound (richer in both senses: that more money was spent on it and that it possesses a richness in tone) and maturity was exciting.  "You Make The Sun Fry" is a beautiful, lazy roll in the hay.  Segall's voice floats through the warbling and wavering guitars and seduces handclaps out of any listener with a sense of rhythm on "I Can't Feel It."  The homeyness of his guitar phrasing invokes the image of the cool guy at the beach party who just so happens to have a guitar and can play every song you want to hear.  "Where Your Head Goes" is slinky and tough with fuzzy, distorted guitars taking over the song completely. 

Unfortunately, the lineup was such that it took a lot away from the power of Ty Segall's set. Having three garage rock bands--Audacity, Tijuana Panthers, Ty Segall-- in a row, all with drum/bass/guitar line-ups, created the musical equivalent of a unibrow, where one band was virtually indistinguishable from the one that came before.  By the time Ty took the stage, it seemed as though the set had been played twice.  Nevertheless, Segall's set at FYF should be solid, provided that it does not come after another band with a passing resemblance.