Just when it feels like psychedelic rock has been rehashed to the point of generic predictability, Ty Segall and White Fence take the past and hack it to bits, splicing together a new vision of a well worn piece of rock history. You can call it psychedelic, you can call it garage, or lo-fi, you can call it whatever you want but I guarantee none of those terms accurately describe 2012s "Hair". It is a scuzzy collage that embraces slithering psych harmony and punk rock thrash into a disjointed tape-warped frenzy.
Ty Segall and Tim (White Fence) Presley bring their respective influences and styles, fusing them in psych freak outs until they are indiscernible. Imagine a band of punk rock kids taking acid in the garage and chronicling the trip with some battered mics and an old tape recorder... you'll have some idea of what this record is all about. That is not to say that their isn't serious thought put into the production. Tracks pan left and right as quickly as Ty and Tim jump from ideas. Like both their solo works this record embraces the home recording aesthetic. Beneath the crackling layers of fuzz there are some great songs with some jam on the side.
The individual tracks flow together in a stream of conscience fashion. The start of the trip "Time" finds them in a tug-a-war between floating along the acoustic chord progression and smashing their guitars into a wall of feedback. It stops and starts, pulling back and forth between sleepy groove and wailing thrash. The organ and two chord chop of "I Am Not A Game" feels like the anxious rise of a roller coaster about to drop. When it does, it falls into a pool of blissful harmonies that swirl around your ears, before starting its rigid climb once again. "Easy Ryder" and "Black Glove/Rag" relaxes a bit and starts to enjoy the less aggressive side of their sound at least for a moment before the wailing punk rock side pushes it's way back into the mix. "Cry Baby" is a buzzed out boogie featuring Ty's sarcastic howls. While "(I Can't) Get Around You" is a taste of Tim Presley's Anglo folk psychedelia. The bipolar thrash returns one last time on "Scissor People"which is a defiant stomp that builds into an electric guitar cacophony as Ty and Tim trade solos. As the band begins to finally comedown from their high, they ride it out on the sleepy groove of "Tongues", a fitting swan song for this particular go around.
The record finds both artists in a areas that neither would have been before or are likely to go again. I for one would welcome another collaboration, especially if it moves on to new territory in the way that "Hair" does. Check the live jams below.
