Ty Segall: "It #1"

Ty Segall is too cool for school.

At 17 years old, while still in high school, he and his band, Epsilons, recorded two frenzied electro-garage free-for-alls for Los Angeles’ Retard Disco Records. With their frantic live shows, they made an impact on LA’s all-ages live-music scene.

“With the Epsilons, we really had no idea what we were doing,” Segall says. “We couldn’t tour for over a year because we were all underage. It was kind of an experiment of a band. We all learned together as we went, but had lots of happy accidents.”

But soon, nationwide touring followed (over spring and summer break, of course), including shows alongside garage-punk stalwarts like Jay Reatard.

“My mom is a bit of a worry worm,” Segall says. “But she’s the most wonderful and caring person I know. It’s a parent’s place to worry when their kid’s out on the road playing shows, but they trust me, and they got used to it eventually. Now it’s no big deal.”

But like high school, that’s in the past. Epsilons called it quits, and Segall went solo to college in San Francisco. He hasn’t kept quiet; in 2009, he released his first solo self-titled nugget for Castle Face Records, the label operated by John Dwyer, formerly of nouveau garage-noise innovators Coachwhips. Now 22, Segall recently graduated from college with a degree in communications, just in time to get going with serious touring for his new solo record, Lemons, recorded for Eric “Oblivian” Friedl’s Goner Records in Memphis.

“I can’t believe Goner is releasing Lemons — the same label that put out Guitar Wolf and the Reatards,” Segall says. “I was shocked to get the phone call. John [Dwyer] passed some stuff I was working on to Eric at Goner; I E-mailed them, and that was it. That’s insane. That kind of thing doesn’t just happen, but here we are.”

Two solo records recorded for two of modern garage rock’s crowned heads before the age of 25 is no small feat. But Ty Segall is the real deal, playing every note with the kind of passionate, sweaty, hormonal swagger brandished by the best of the black- leather rockabilly cats of yore.

"John [Dwyer] passed some stuff I was working on to Eric at Goner; I E-mailed them, and that was it. That’s insane. That kind of thing doesn’t just happen, but here we are.”

Like his first solo foray, Segall plays nearly every note on Lemons. But whereas his self-titled release was truly played as a one-man band (i.e. recorded with guitar in hand at a drum kit) — resulting in the kind of spastic, sleazy madness that can only come from the peaked crash-and-burn pace of a fevered mind set in full motion — Lemons favors cleaner production, more cohesive songwriting, and more varied song styles. However, at the core of everything here is the cranked Hasil Adkins bender-bash Ty Segall has come to call his own.

“I like to think this record is a little more serious,” he says. “I really tried to work on writing what I think are better songs and to get a wider range of sounds. The production is a lot less ‘garbage-can rocky.’ Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I just wanted something new and more dynamic.”

The results on Lemons cut a wide swath, pulling equal doses of tumbledown, back-porch rockabilly, swampy country blues, and rocket-fueled basement-punk-show frenzy. The rhythms are simple and familiar: he is, after all, playing all this himself, and should you venture out to see him live, you’ll see one man, one guitar, and one altered drum kit playing everything you hear here (though he has been known to play with friends backing him up).

But there’s a primal, heady momentum injected into these songs that’s a rare find in today’s slick, Pro Tools world. From the first bucket-beat fuzz-tone crackle and ghastly wail of the opening track, “It #1,” Segall’s genuinely unique voice, which is a rare and important aspect for any rock band, shines through.

The sheer variety of rock styles covered in less than 30 minutes is staggering, but it flows brilliantly, with each diversion bearing Segall’s trademark sonic stamp.

“Lovely One,” with its heart-beat drumming and keening backwoods Everly Brothers refrain, begs for some action on the dance (or basement) floor, while “Can’t Talk” is a spastic-lamentation, Mod-style rave-up. “Rusted Dust,” with its eerie falsetto vocals, calls to mind a lonely escaped convict, pining out of a boxcar somewhere on the prairie. Some of his greatest moments are without Segall’s otherworldly croon, such as instrumental “Untitled #2,” with its jungle drums, acoustic acrobatics, and creeping bass riffs slipping past at breakneck speed.

Though the record isn’t without its missteps (the unnecessary Captain Beefheart cover, “Dropout Boogie” comes to mind), Lemons is a glimpse at what one can only hope turns out to be a lengthy and fruitful career, and at 22, Segall ought to have plenty left in him.

Landlocked Music in Bloomington, Indiana has been around since 2006 and has since proved to be a staple in the small college town. The store has hosted a number of notable in-store performances and curates a collection of music to satisfy almost any taste. With its fifth anniversary coming up in March of 2011, we spoke with Landlocked c0-owner Jason Nickey and got the inside scoop on one of the Midwest's top record stores. A message to any straightforward rock-'n'-roll bands from Bloomington: get in touch with Nickey; he doesn't believe that you exist.

What was your motivation for starting a music store? / What is your background in music?

I had no choice, really. It’s the only thing I’m fully qualified to do; I’m otherwise unemployable. All I ever did at any other job I ever had was talk to people about music and records and try to discover new stuff I hadn’t heard yet. So it was probably inevitable. Also, at a certain point, when you’ve acquired a certain quantity of recorded music, it’s the next logical move.

I worked in record stores all through college, and I’ve worked a bit on the distribution side of things, as well as some writing for magazines, websites, etc., and deejaying at college and then community radio. All of those experiences have come into play to some degree. Also, finding a partner was key. It would be near impossible to do this alone. I’m sort of the behind-the-counter guy; my partner is the marketing/social-networking guy, broadly speaking.
 

Jason Nickey holds the Flamin' Groovies' Shake Some Action

What is the musical community like in Bloomington?

I’m feeling a little negative about it at the moment to be honest, although I’m quite thankful that we have a music community at all given that Bloomington is a small Midwestern town.

There are tons of bands here. But generally speaking, it’s all very arty. Even our punk bands have some sort of conceptual angle. Either that or it’s some horrible crust-folk hobo-bike-pirate friendly punk BS, which won’t ever seem to die here. Not my bag at all.

Showing people a good time seems not to be taken into consideration much. The concept of fun takes a backseat to making some sort of “art statement” or something. I’ve been waiting for years to stumble upon some straight-ahead rock-and-roll band that just plays Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly-type songs non-ironically but with passion and soul.

There are larger musical institutions here like Secretly Canadian and her related labels, and the annual Lotus World Music Festival — both of which have an overall positive effect on the Bloomington music scene. And lest this all sound like a rant, there are a handful of good bands here. Among my favorites are Apache Dropout, who has an LP coming out on Family Vineyard early next year. They’re sort of a ragged caveman-bubblegum band, if that makes any sense.

(And in case you’re wondering, yes, John Mellencamp lives here, but he’s a total nonentity on the music scene. I’ve never seen him at a show or even sold him a record in 15 or so years here, which is a shame.)
 

Tyler Damon holds The Dead C's Eusa Kills

What can someone expect when visiting Landlocked for the first time?

I’d like to think that we have a good balance of the esoteric and the basic catalog that any decent record shop should have. You can find Les Rallizes Denudes next to Led Zeppelin here. We do our best to be helpful guides, so you’ll be asked if you have any questions and then left alone to dig and be surprised. More and more people seem to come in knowing exactly what they’re looking for, or they want to be told what they should buy. Both attitudes I try to redirect.

Sure, I want people to find what they’re looking for, but I’ve tried to create an environment where people find what they didn’t even know they were looking for. That’s what I like personally when I go to a record store, that feeling of serendipitous discovery.
 

Mikey Kapinus (keyboardist from Magnolia Electric Co.) holds a Drakkar Sauna 7"

Give me three great albums that you've enjoyed lately.

Not incredibly new, but the latest Ty Segall LP on Goner, Melted, is probably going to be my favorite of 2010.  The Liminanas LP on Chicago-based label Trouble in Mind is probably the best new release I’ve heard in the past month or so. Sort of reminds me of Shocking Blue, which is a good thing in my book. Also, I revisited The Silos' Cuba LP the other day for the first time in years. So good. Excellent songs.

Which albums has your store sold the most over the past month?

The double-disc version of The National’s High Violet has sold the most, largely due to the label doing a big promotional push on it, offering it to stores at a super-cheap price, and even directing people online to indie shops. Matador/4AD/Beggars Group are true friends of indie record stores.
 

James Paasche holds Reverend Charlie Jackson's God's Got It

What is the strangest request you’ve ever received?

Sometimes friends prank call us and I always fall for it because their questions and requests are always far less strange than the real questions we’re asked. We’ve been asked everything from “Do you carry trombones?” to “Can I get a quote for some work?” thinking we’re the tattoo place around the corner (mind you that this is someone INSIDE the store asking this, surrounded by LPs and CDs).

In terms of the strangest music request we’ve had: since we sort of specialize in strange stuff, strange for us is like Barbara Streisand or something — stuff so common I wouldn’t even waste space on it. The most frustrating questions are less strange than just unreasonable. Like some dude from Denmark or wherever on some cross-country record dig drops in and before even looking at anything says something like, “Where are all your regional private-press funk 45s?” Oh yeah, sure, let me go get them, there’s a whole box back by the toilet.
 

Heath Byers holds most of the Spacemen 3 catalog

Have you had any in-store performances that really stand out?

We’ve had a lot of good ones over the past five years: Besnard Lakes, Indian Jewelry, Daniel Higgs. Our "Breakfast with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy" (Will Oldham) and Lou Barlow in-stores were particularly meaningful to me. More recently, Bare Wires totally killed it to a small but enthusiastic audience.

Any big future plans for Landlocked?

Our five-year anniversary is coming up in March. We’re working on having some sort of show/celebration and customer-appreciation-type shindig. Still in the works. Any good bands want to play? Get in touch. We’re also going to be putting out at least a couple records ourselves in the coming year. Stay tuned.

Memphis, Tennessee's Goner Records specializes in punk, soul, blues, funk, and heavy-metal LPs and 45s, with a label that is home to some ALARM favorites. What other record store can boast its own annual rock-'n'-roll festival exhibiting bands from all across the globe?  Shop owner Eric Friedl (of The Oblivians) spoke with ALARM and shared the story behind Goner.

Goner Records co-owner Eric Friedl holds Junkpile Jimmy: Alberhill (self-released)

Store manager John Hoppe holds James Arthur: Manhunt (Aarght Records)

Zac Ives holds NoBunny: Love Visions (Goner Records)

Give me three great albums that you've enjoyed lately.

- Bill Orcutt: Way Down South (Palilalia, 2010)
- Travis Wammack: Scr-Scr-Scratchy! (Zu Zazz, 2000)
- Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight (Armageddon, 1980)

Which albums has your store sold the most over the past month?

The new NoBunny LP on Goner, the Cheap Time live LP, and the Personal & The Pizzas' Raw Romance LP have been the best-selling over the last month.

What's the worst album that you've had to special order?

Hmmmm…the only bad records are the ones you don't want to order and then never sell.  We ordered a KC & The Sunshine Band greatest-hits CD for the owner of our favorite fried-chicken place in Memphis (Uncle Lou's) and then never got it to him…but that's not that bad. Maybe a Tool LP? We ordered a Tool LP for a tool and he never bought it. That's pretty bad.

Why do people choose your store over major or Internet retailers?

Prompt service, strange stock, individual taste in what we have in the store, good prices — I think a little bit of all of these.

Ty Segall is one of our favorites. Who are some of the newest people you’ve released on your label?

Ty is great! [He's] hard-working, and he recently seemed to get to a whole new level of intensity live! His band killed it at our last Gonerfest.

The latest Goner releases have been Limes (Memphis oddball, strange-country-ish rock), King Lee with Quintron (tire-shop salesman talking about his coworkers over a synth jam created by Mr. Quintron in New Orleans), and NoBunny (bunny-masked, sugary-pop, garage-rock genius).  Next up is John Wesley Coleman, an eccentric guitarist/songwriter from Austin, TX. He's also in the Golden Boys. He is great. He has a song about basketball called "Oooh Basketball." You'll love it.

What’s Gonerfest?

Gonerfest is our annual festival in Memphis, TN where we invite a bunch of bands from all over the world to come and play and eat over an extended weekend.  This past year we had bands from Ireland, Japan, and England, three bands from Australia, and 36 other bands from all over the United States. It's small, it's sweaty, and it's fun. Plus Memphis has fantastic food and the best barbecue in the world.

Our first festival had Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show and progressed from there. Bands who have played over the years include Jay Reatard, Oblivians, Guitar Wolf, Ty Segall, Oh Sees, Pierced Arrows, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, NoBunny, New Bomb Turks, and hundreds more.

We just held Gonerfest 7 at the end of September. After a complete recovery, we'll start planning our next one, which will be held September 22-25, 2011.  Hope you can make it out to Memphis!

It’s the kind of joint that’s okay to drop in for a drink on a weekday afternoon but attracts that kind of intolerable, binge-drinking hook-up crowd on weekends — occasionally, though, the place books a band that by all rights should be playing one of the places down the street with a proper stage — bands such as Digital Leather, perhaps the best band in Tucson that remains virtually invisible to locals.

Leaning on the table, Foree tries to explain why this is so. “I just started recording on a four-track in the little hovel I lived in,” he says. “I didn’t have any friends for three years, so it gave me time to learn how to play a keyboard.” Though his band tours frequently, it rarely plays the dusty Southwestern town that it calls home.

Despite that fact, over the past seven years, Digital Leather has released seven albums and a large scattering of singles, EPs, and split releases almost as frequently as the band’s line-up and arrangement have mutated. Digital Leather started out as a two-piece with Foree and Ryan Wong (of Destruction Unit, Tokyo Electron, and the Reatards) both on keyboards; now Foree tours with a full band.

In 2008, influential Memphis-based indie label Goner Records released the band’s album Sorcerer. The music on the album could be described as dark synth pop, but it’s so much more — goofy, robotic odes where love is styrofoam and simulated in analog. Foree sardonically portrayed the songwriting process for the album.

“I can’t sing very well, so I’ll just kind of talk,” he says. “And I don’t really have much substance as a human being, so I’ll just talk about [science fiction novelist] Phillip K. Dick shit.” It’s true that the music channels the iciness of old Human League records, but there’s also a warmness somewhere between the obvious knack for melody and the warbling, in-the-red keyboards that attests to Digital Leather’s deeper control of sonic dynamics.

Although Sorcerer is Digital Leather’s latest release, it is misleading to say that it is the band’s newest material. “That record is three years old; the two records that I put out in 2007 (Blow Machine and Hard at Work) are actually newer than Sorcerer,” Foree explains. The new material is closer to power pop than the icy robo-pop of Sorcerer, as Digital Leather is now playing with a straight-up three-part rock combo—guitar, bass, and drums.

Despite the confusion, Foree seems to revel in the chaos of the lineup changes and out-of-order release schedule, and that impishness bleeds over into the band’s live shows. He recalls a disastrous show that the band played in Texas for a crowd of crossed arms and silence that culminated in the explosion of one of his keyboards. For Foree, a good show is one in which he and the band don’t get their asses kicked — but maybe almost do.

But lately, the chaos has been dying down. Foree has been recording his next album in a Phoenix recording studio for almost a year, for which he has yet to find an interested label, though he’s had a few bites. He’s confident about its potential. “I want this one to go further than all the others,” he says. “I believe that it will.”

Moss

The album title says it all; if one were to awaken, alive but barely breathing, and imprisoned in a cold underground lair, Tombs of the Blind Drugged, the third and latest album by Southhampton, UK’s Moss, would be the most appropriate soundtrack.

Recorded at Wales’ Foel Studios (Blue Cheer, Electric Wizard), the songs on Tombs are sparse, crushingly heavy, and as anxiety provoking as a waterboarding.

Ty Segall: Lemons (Goner)

On his latest album, Ty Segall (former Epsilons) presents infectious, boogie-your-ass-off garage rock. Although Lemons’ lo-fi production may obscure Segall’s sweet croons (or wails, depending on what the song demands), the pop sensibility of this former one man band shines through the fuzz, and illustrates a unique sound in an often carbon-copy saturated genre.

Tribecastan: Strange Cousin (Evergreene Music)

The brainchild of accomplished New York based musicians John Kruth and Jeff Greene, Tribecastan synthesizes urban folk sounds from all over the world into a playful, eclectic mix. On Strange Cousin, the group is as likely to employ instrumentation and melodies from Scandinavia, as they are from Central Asia, or The Balkans.

Yob: The Great Cessation (Profound Lore)

Eugene, Oregon’s Yob has reunited after a brief hiatus, and from the sounds of their latest offering, The Great Cessation, the psychedelic doom trio is better than ever. We recommend rolling, epic second track,  "The Lie That Is Sin."

In addition to posing for such swell album photos, Quintron has spent the last number years performing with puppet shows put on by his wife and partner-in-crime Miss Pussycat (whose inimitable lyrical prowess is present on most of the tracks,) and invented a drum machine that runs on spit along with countless other weird musical innovations.

Appropriately, his album contains plenty of sleazy, drum-machine fueled soul numbers including stand-outs "Waterfall" and "Final Conflict." On tracks like "Reborn," atmospheric, Esquivel-like lounge bizarreness abounds.

For the casual listener, the sideshow house party quality of the album might be a bit hard to digest. Underneath the ostentatious absurdity, however, Quintron is a phenomenal organ player. Just check out his recent work with raunchy R&B legend Andre Williams on Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot) or the garage floor gospel goodness he kicked up with Memphis garage geniuses The Oblivians on …Play 9 Songs With Quintron (Crypt) if you need some proof.

Quintron has always marched to the beat of his own drummer (or, drum machine as the case may be) but his eccentricities and preoccupations have always burbled to the surface most prominently on his solo records.

This record most likely won't turn up many new fans, but the curious might be best directed to Quintron's live album from 1998, These Hands of Mine (Skingraft) for an introductory glimpse into his psyche, or any one of his collaborative projects. But for the cult of old fans already warm and cuddly with the method behind Quintron's madness, this will scratch that most specific of itches.

-Pete Klockau

Quintron: www.quintronandmisspussycat.com
Goner Records: www.goner-records.com