HAIR – TY SEAGULL AND WHITE FENCE

Still swanning around in their individual universes of 60s psych/garage rock, Tim Presley of White Fence and Ty Segall have come together to record Hair. Both hailing from San Francisco, their collaboration results as a distorted mosaic of the idiosyncratic facets of garage rock–as if hearing a playlist of The Kingsmen, Dick Dale and Paul Revere and the Raiders blasting too loud from someone else’s headphones. The opening track Time begins with an almost sacred unison chant, juxtaposed against angular distorted guitar before a loosened folk rhythm settles in, complete with Presley’s languidly pitch-bending lead guitar. I Am Not a Game possesses all the instrumental soul of Booker T. & the M.G.’s whilst Scissor People crescendos into an almost overwhelming mess of distortion, before leaping back to a one-chord loop under extended self-indulgent guitar solos as a reminder of Presley and Segall’s usual psych-rock nature. A shaking surf rock number straight from a 50s school dance appears in Cry Baby with a killer keys solo a minute and a half in. Just like its name suggests, Easy Ryder is ultimately relaxed. Presely’s long line guitar solos cry over the constant titter of a tambourine which together provide the pitch and rhythm variations left wanting by the albums characteristic monotone vocals. ***1/2