By Max Johnson
Ty Segall has a gift, but I don’t know what for. On his last album, Melted, Segall was brash and subversive, embodying the dirtiest garage-rock bands, an Iggy Pop we could call our own. His latest offering, this summer’s Goodbye Bread, is more indebted to Dylan’s Basement Tapes or to John Lennon’s solo work.
On the title-track opener, it seems he’s moved his 4-track from a filthy garage down to a dingy basement. Which seems like a small-scale change, but it might be big enough to throw some old fans for a loop.
“Goodbye Bread” holds on to the psych twists, but an attention to craft keeps them in check. Gone are the demonic moans, the guttural noises. Instead, bright echoed acoustic guitar strumming wraps around his vocals like a blanket. His bizarre lyrics (“Hello Monday, goodbye bread”) act as artifice, keeping the listener an arm’s length away, but the song’s sunny-but-world-weary impression is still made.
Ty Segall will be playing tomorrow night, at The Blue Moose Tap House, with Mikal Cronin, Solid Attitude, and Sam Locke-Ward.
