Segall Smeagol: Ty Segall Releases Free EP of Harry Nilsson Covers

One sentiment being repeated often during the Covid-19 quarantine is that this crisis has the potential to allow a lot of us to really devote the time and energy to our creative projects that they may require, but don’t regularly receive.  In other words, maybe we can finally get some shit done.  For someone as prolific as Los Angeles-based neo-garage/psych rocker, Ty Segall, the amount of output isn’t likely to be affected, although the specifics of what he releases may be.

Earlier this year, Ty announced a collaboration album with Lightning Bolt‘s Brian Chippendale.  Operating under the moniker of Wasted Shirt, the duo released their debut, FUNGUS II, on February 28th.  May is supposed to begin with Ty doing a series of tour dates with his Freedom Band, before shifting into a tour drumming for his trio, FUZZ, alongside , Charles Moothart (guitar, vocals), and Chad Ubovich (bass, vocals), from the end of the month through June.  Then, starting in August, it would be 2 straight months of more Freedom Band shows.  With the way things are head now, though, it’s hard to speculate exactly what the future holds.  Fortunately, Ty is a multi-instrumentalist and producer, so, even when he’s limited in his in-person interactions, he still has the ability to produce a compelling and fully dynamic release entirely on his own.

While Ty is known for pumping out an almost inhuman level of original material on a regular basis, he also has a history of putting his own unique spin on the work of others.  In live settings, I’ve seen him tackle gems like DEVO‘s“Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy” and, 2 years ago, he put out Fudge Sandwich, an 11-track covers album featuring renditions of songs by such artists as Amon Düül II, John Lennon, Sparks, Gong, Neil Young, Funkadelic, and The Grateful Dead.  Now he’s offering up a free 6-song EP paying tribute to one of the most underappreciated pop songwriters of the 20th century: Harry Nilsson.

Segall Smeagol sees Ty Segall putting his spin on 6 of the 10 tracks from Nilsson‘s 1971 classic, Nilsson Schmilsson.  The chalk on blackboard cover art is even an homage to the Nilsson original that features a black and white photo of Harry in his bathrobe.

Here’s what Segall has to say about covering the work of one of The Beatles favorite songwriter’s.

“I wanted to cover Nilsson Schmilsson for years, so I used the opportunity of being at home to cover my favorite cuts from the record. So here it is free on Bandcamp – “Segall Smeagol” LOVE TO EVERYONE”

Honestly, this shit gets pretty wild with the Orange County native taking plenty of artistic liberty.  You’re not likely to hear a version of “Coconut” quite like this elsewhere, and his “Gotta Get Up” maintains Harry Nilsson‘s vocal melody while enveloping it psychedelic fuzz rock doom.  By “Driving Along” it’s clear that this album is pretty fucking good, especially for a somewhat off the cuff bonus project made while killing time during a quarantine.  Segall ups the tempo on this one and magnifies all of the elements that made Nilsson‘s version so good, pushing the vocal harmony in the middle to more dramatic Pet Sounds-esque heights and ripping the guitar solo like… umm… he basically just rips it like any unrestrained Ty Segall guitar solo.  “Early In The Morning” is a stark re-imagining from the bare, minimalist original.  Reborn as a brooding, lurching number, Segall‘s “singing” is more of a grumble a la early, Portrait Of An American Family-era Marilyn Manson with bug-zap space rock guitar tone riffs laid over it.  Much more reverence is paid to the delicacy of “The Moonbeam Song,” as Ty opts to do the entire thing a capella, harmonizing with himself throughout.  The real standout from Nilsson Schmillson has always been the 7-minute epic, “Jump Into The Fire,” with its driving bass groove, echoing vocals, meandering guitar noodles, persistently building intensity, and pummeling left-field tribal drum breakdown.  The song sits even heavier with me after the recent passing of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, since Psychic TV offered a really solid, nearly 10-minute rendition on their 2016 album, Alienist.  Ironically enough, while Psychic TV went in a more psychedelic direction with soaring, blistering guitar work, Ty‘s “Jump Into The Fire” is the darkest and most industrial take of them all.  With what is, surprisingly, also the shortest running time at 6-and-a-half minutes, his is a brutal sonic onslaught that sounds like Ministry dosed to the gills and leading a space armada of flying keytars in a cosmic battle blasting lasers through the scorched wing meat of a swarm of fire breathing cyborg dragons.  It’s not half bad

The beauty of an album like Nilsson Schmilsson is that, when it was initially released 50 years ago, the man behind it really took the opportunity to display his range as an artist.  And since each song that Segall is covering really is so different, his takes on each of them is also incredibly varied.  Because of that, it’s hard not to be curious about what he’d do for the other 4 missing tracks, if he should choose to reinterpret them at some point.  On the other hand, it’s hard not to appreciate that he provided the ones that he did cover with enough respect and energy to do them justice.  That being said, it’s definitely possible that he may not be done with this project quite yet.  Back In 2015, he released Ty Rex, a compilation of T. Rex/Tyrannosaurus Rex covers expanding on a previously released 6-song EP from Record Store Day 2011 of the same name.  Something like that could be on the horizon at some point.  But for now, we have Segall Smeagol, an EP that proves a worthwhile addition to an ever expanding catalog well beyond any novelty.

Also worth noting is that the Italian label, Goodbye Boozy Records just announced a reissue of the 2009 “Pop Song” 7-inch that Segall made with frequent collaborator, Mikal Cronin, during the duo’s Reverse Shark Attack era.  Unfortunately, the links they sent us for the pre-order led us everywhere from Myspace and Discogs to ebay.  If you’re interested, you might have the best shot with their Facebook page.

Check out Segall Smeagol below.

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