FUZZ & Show # 483

To say Ty Segall puts out a lot of music is an understatement. Last year alone he put out three full length albums, all of them different in their own way. This year he already has one release under his belt (the acoustic filled Sleeper) and now he has FUZZ. FUZZ is a new project that Ty has been working on in which he plays drums and sings. The album builds from 2012’s Slaughterhouse, taking the heavy grimy sounds that were explored there and adding more filthy fuzzy goodness and Black Sabbath styled riffs, which are supplied by guitarist Charles Moothart. Bass is covered by Roland Cosio, who used to play in The Moonhearts with Charles. This three piece band based out of San Francisco, add the element of heavy Hard Rock to their music. Several songs evolve and devolve (however you look at it) into long jams at time, but all the while not sounding boring.

FUZZ emerged from a friendship that Segall and Moothart have had for quite some time. Both worked in an earlier band together The Epsilons and recently Moothart played guitar on Slaughterhouse. FUZZ starts off with the track “Earthen Gate” a five minute song that starts off with eerie distortion and bass, it builds from a slow guitar riff into a manic fuzzy Proto-Metal romp as Segall shouts the opening lines “Hide your eyes/Ride your lies and deceive/They must believe”. This line could be seen as a comment on Segall’s ongoing prolificness. “Sleigh Ride” echoes elements of early Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer, while “What’s In My Head?” is a slow groove that builds once again. It has an extremely catchy melody, one that will stick with you for days. It sounds as if it was created after spending too many hours in the hot sun, it boils at times and at others lays back. “Loose Sutres” was one of the first tracks from this album made available online to hear. It features Garage-like guitar riffs blended with sludgy solo and catchy vocal harmonies, while the breakdown at the two minute mark sounds like an outtake from Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album. Lyrically words like “I've had it/all the static, buzz, and fuzz/I wish it never was/I'm hidin'/from a black hole on my back/Run” are perhaps another cryptic message on Segall’s thoughts on himself, but then again it could be taken any way. It could be a universal line that could relate to just about any situation.

“Raise” is sung by guitarist Moothart, his vocal delivery is reminiscent of many 70s Hard Rock groups, while the lyrics seem to reflect an apocalyptic nature. The album ends with the six minute jam “One”. It builds with bass and drums as we hear guitar solos aplenty and frantic drum fills. The song ends this mysterious, fuzzy Hard Rock influenced album. The whole album is approximately 37 minutes. Segall’s elements of Garage Rock and Psychedelic drift in and out throughout this album. It is obvious that “fuzz” is a huge part of anything Segall is involved in. This band differs from other projects he has been involved in because Segall takes a back seat more here, just playing the drums and singing for the most part. Moothart covers a lot of ground here too, and it would be wrong to just focus on Segall it is the chemistry between these three that makes it different and unique. The band name and album titled FUZZ gives different meaning to the term. It doesn’t just have to be Garage Rock to be fuzzy, it can also be really heavy at the same time and still sound good.

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Some other bands featured on this week's program were:

Chris Crossroads - who also did a live session in the studio for the show this week - http://chriscrossroads.com/

The Modests from Glasgow, Scotland - https://www.facebook.com/TheModests#!/TheModests

The Mobbs from Northampton, UK - http://www.themobbs.co.uk/

This Week's Play list:

1. The Testors – Together
2. The Mobs – White Collar Worker
3. The Modests – Dylan Was A Punk
4. The Courtneys – 90210
5. The Thrashers - I Won The Dance Contest
6. The Dirty Nil - Zombie Eyed
7. The Dirtbombs – Sugar On Top
8. Chris Crossroads - Shot It Babe (Live CJAM Session)
9. Chris Crossroads - Rock and Roll Monster (Live CJAM Session)
10. Night Beats – Outta Mind
12. The Mongols – Sleepwalk
13. The Bell Peppers – Soda Pop
14. Jimmy Hunt - Rever Souvent
15. The Jam - A Bomb In Wardour Street
16. Big Star – You Get What You Deserve (Alternate Mix)
17. The Replacements – Everything’s Coming Up Roses
18. Hot Nasties - I Am A Confused Teenager
16. The D4 – Savage
17. Wreckless Eric - Waxworks
18. Cosmic Psychos - She's A Cat
19. Fuzz – What’s In My Head?
20. Fuzz – One

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for Novenber 19. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.