Ty Segall Releases “Ice Plant” From Upcoming ‘First Taste’ LP / Residencies scheduled in LA, NYC, & Europe

I’m not going to front; it’s damn near impossible for me keep up with the nonstop output from half of the neo-garage/psych acts on the scene these days, let alone the work of someone like Ty Segall.  The 32-year-old songwriter/multi-instrumentalist is one of the most prolific artists in the game right now and one that is firmly positioned at the epicenter of a thriving So-Cal music community.  Cut from the same cloth as elder statesman and cohort, John Dwyer (Oh Sees, Coachwhips, etc), who truly helped create and sustain the foundation for the scene in the Bay Area, in which Ty and others like Mikal Cronin and Tim Presley (aka White Fence) developed much of their careers, Segall, along with just about everyone else, eventually chose to relocate south to Los Angeles (Presley eventually moved back).  The amount of material that has been produced by these artists is overwhelming, but it makes sense when you consider that so many of them are good friends, rather than in opposition with one another.  It’s the musicians around them that operate as a consistent source of inspiration and motivation.  Not only that, but they help each other out and collaborate.  Ty has released joint albums with Cronin, as well as White Fence, while members of Wand have performed in his backing band.  He even plays drums in the trio Fuzz, behind frequent collaborator Charles Moothart (guitar/vocals) and Meatbodies frontman, Chad Ubovich, on bass.  It may feel incestuous at times, and I’m the last one to claim these mergers don’t result in some mutated babies, but I’ll also tell you that these offspring are deformed in the most positive ways.  Also, rather than simply rehashing the same sounds over and over again, this lot genuinely influences and compels each other to move forward and evolve their sounds, not unlike the way that acts like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Stones continued to up the challenge for each other from one project to the next.

There’s a great deal of deserved mutual respect in this circle, which is a tremendous benefit for someone like Segall, who is known for switching up the lineup of his backing band semi frequently — this is no doubt based, at least partially, around the availability and schedules of players that are, themselves, spread thin with various projects.  For his 2016 effort, Emotional Mugger, the Orange County native was even able to lock down Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont, Shrinebuilder, Nirvana, Redd Kross) to play drums on a track.  The rest of The Muggers included Evan (drums) and Cory (keys/ guitar live) of Wand,  Emmett Kelly aka Cairo Gang (guitar), Mikal Cronin (bass / sax live),  Moothart (drums), and Kyle Thomas of King Tuff (vocals / guitar live).  A year-and-a-half ago, Ty released the album Freedom’s Goblin and toured with a slightly reduced lineup, which bid the Wand boys and Thomas farewell, while adding Ben Boye on keys.  This is essentially the same lineup that appeared on his 2017 self-titled LP that fell between the two — also within that window was a covers album and another White Fence collab.  Earlier this year, The Freedom Band released a live LP titled, Deforming Lobes and, although not officially credited as such on the album cover, they are the ones supporting Segall on his latest album, First Taste, which is being released by Drag City Records next week on Friday, August 2nd.

A couple of singles have already been released from the new album, each markedly different from not only each other, but from much of his past work as well.  The first of the pair, titled “Taste,” is a driving tune that sounds like a wasp-shaped space craft flying full force through a bug zapper doubling as a black hole.  Its video features Segall killing off each of his band members one-by-one and collecting their sparkling and/or rhinestone encrusted garments to assemble a complete ensemble, which he later dons while entering a room full of naked mannequins.  After that, came the pseudo-raga psych-folk jam “Radio.”  The urge to continue exploring new directions is clear, not only in the resulting sounds, but by the inclusion of such instruments as koto, recorder, bouzouki, harmonizer, mandolin, saxophones and brass.  The frontman also handles drum duties for the left channel, while Moothart is responsible for anything that the listeners get from the right.  Today, we get our latest sample with “Ice Plant,” a beautifully stripped down number built around harmonies between Ty and The Freedom Band‘s latest acquisition, Shannon Lay (Feels, Raw Geronimo).  Thus far, First Taste is proving more introspective than its raucous predecessor, and the press release promises as much.  At the same time, it also promises a live show just as high energy and engaging as they’ve always delivered.

Here’s what Ty has to say about “Ice Plant” in particular

“‘Ice Plant’ is a fever dream reflection of my childhood. . .  A past no more. Was very fun to sing with the amazing Shannon Lay”

“My neighborhood in Laguna Beach was and still is covered in Ice Plants and Eucalyptus trees that would fall on our family’s car and stain the paint job. One winter we tried to surf down the Ice Plant hills.”

To support First Taste, Ty Segall & The Freedom Band have residencies scheduled in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and a sprinkling of locations across Europe.  Each night they will be performing the new album in full, along with another select title from Segall‘s expansive catalog.

First taste is now available for pre-order in digital and physical formats through bandcamp and Drag City Records.

Full list of tour dates, including details about which albums will be performed and the corresponding openers, below.

Ty Segall & Freedom Band Tour Dates:
Fri. July 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted) w/ Warm Drag
Fri Aug. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted) w/ Richard Rose
Fri. Aug. 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted) w/ Vice Cooler
Fri. Aug. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread) w/ The Intelligence
Fri. Aug. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread) w/ Oog Bogo
Fri. Aug. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger) w/ Lamps
Fri. Sept. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger) w/ King Tuff (solo)
Fri. Sept. 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator) w/ Ruth Garber
Fri. Sept. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator) w/ DMBQ
Fri. Sept. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator) w/ DMBQ
Tues. Oct. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted) w/ Lamps
Wed. Oct. 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted) w/ White Fence
Thurs. Oct. 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread) w/ DMBQ
Fri. Oct. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Emotional Mugger) w/ DMBQ
Sat. Oct. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator) w/ DMBQ
Wed. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Thu. Oct. 10 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Fri. Oct. 11 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Sat. Oct. 12 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Goodbye Bread)
Sun. Oct. 13 – London, UK @ Oval Space (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)
Tue. Oct. 15 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Thu. Oct. 17 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Melted)
Fri. Oct. 18 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat (Ty Segall plays First Taste + Manipulator)