Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin - Reverse Shark Attack (Album Review)

 

Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin - Reverse Shark Attack

(2009)


My copy: 2009 limited pressing at 45 RPM by Kill Shaman Records.


By 2009 Ty Segall had already begun building a catalog of explosive garage/psych rock songs. Acting as a bandmate of Segall’s and later releasing his own solo albums, Mikel Cronin joined in on Reverse Shark Attack to help write and record. Reverse Shark Attack trades the slightly more precise and focused garage-rock jabs of Segall’s two early full-lengths for fuzzed out lo-fi spasms and effect-laden vocals. 

“I Wear Black” kicks in with bombast as sludge-y riffs grind over glitched vocal cries. The vocals on the first track blast off after the choruses smashing through octaves like a rickety roller-coaster. Reverse Shark Attack feels unhinged but in a totally fun way that echoes the more cheerful and playful sentiments of modern garage-rock. The drums have a distinctly destroyed sound to them that helps give a sleazy surf vibe to “Drop Dead Baby.” “High School” and “Ramona” both borrow from early punk music with the former sounding like it was taken from an alien car commercial and the latter featuring the first distinct guitar solo of the record.  

“Doctor Doctor” foreshadows the incoming Pink Floyd cover with an elated tone and insanely dense layered vocals. “Bikini Babes” tackles surf-rock more with jangled tambourine and rebellious vocal performances before breaking into what sounds like a lo-fi keyboard solo. An easy highlight is the aforementioned cover of Pink Floyd’s “Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk” which begins as a near carbon copy before devolving into a typhoon of wicked guitar sounds and tremolo wailing. 

The true anchor of this record is the titular “Reverse Shark Attack” which is essentially three different songs glued together. The first movement of the ten-plus minute finale briefly mocks ska with sharp guitar and tambourine before surprisingly stripping down into acoustic meditation with quiet vocals. “Reverse Shark Attack” then slowly grows upon introducing catchy vocal melodies, ultimately launching into an insane crescendo of noises that is carried away into the third movement by a drum roll. A jazzy beat picks up the final movement of “Reverse Shark Attack” before furious surf-rock tremolo offers yet another genre rebirth. The album disappears into the smoke as abruptly as it begins, but this allows the music to not overstay its welcome. 

Reverse Shark Attack is a cool hodge-podge of crazy garage/surf-rock with many psychedelic undertones, and what makes the record truly stand out is the obliterated lo-fi production that is responsible for the unique personality of the album. If Reverse Shark Attack had been a high-fidelity recording with crystal clear mixing, it would have been forgotten by now. 

If you want a first pressing like my copy, the price shifts around 30 dollars usually. The 2013 reissue is generally cheaper.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ovlov - Am (Album Review)

Image
  Ovlov - Am (2013) My copy: 2023 repress on purple/clear galaxy vinyl by Exploding In Sound Records Connecticut's Ovlov got their name by inverting the car brand “Volvo,” which immediately conveys the sort of nonchalant, heart-on-our-sleeve ethos that flows through their slacker (but not too slacker) style of indie shoegazing. Their full-length debut was happily snapped up by Jersey’s Exploding In Sound Records, which makes sense given the band’s proclivity for feedback squeals and heavy bass/guitar combos.  Out of the shoegaze resurgence of the 2010’s, Ovlov rejected the idea that their music had to be devoid of clear pop appeal, which is probably the reason for their most common comparison (to Dinosaur Jr.) along with frontman Steve Hartlett’s sedated, nasally croon that just barely crests over the waves of distortion. Ovlov also borrows the guitar hero sensibilities of J Mascis, though here on Am the solos are usually sloppy and crazed enough that they make for effecti...
Read more

Part Chimp - I Am Come (Album Review)

Image
  Part Chimp - I Am Come (2005) My copy: 2005 press by Rock Action Records As the millennium turned, rock music trends began to shift. In the U.S. a band called Lightning Bolt were establishing themselves as forerunners of modern noise-rock by pushing the music in increasingly weird directions. Across the pond, Mclusky were fighting the good fight with the 2002 Albini-produced Do Dallas, that wove dry, intelligent humor in between bursts of electrifying instrumental poundings. But over in London, another set of noise-crazed rockers got their start around the same time.  Part Chimp’s humor is a touch more on the nose; see album title Chart Pimp, or song title “Hitler and Jews” from the same 2002 debut. But directness is just where a band calling themselves “Part Chimp” excels. As rock began softening and going the way of the Strokes real quick, Chart Pimp offered a bastion of sludge-y rock ferocity that mostly suffered from being less able to fully capture the sheer volume ...
Read more

What Makes an Album Great

Image
            Great albums should leave lasting impressions, not only on those who listen as non-musicians, but also on the realm of music these albums occupy. In other words, a musical project should seek to leave some distinct mark on it's genre, to lay claim to some form of unique personality; this can often come in many forms, ranging from broad sound choices to subtle production techniques. This method for evaluating music seeks to make complacency the enemy, and forward movement the desired goal. This is not to say that all derivative albums are necessarily bad, as of course, outliers will always exist. Rather, the goal of an artist should, intrinsically, be to leave some reflection of their own condition, regardless of how relatable those emotions may or may not be. In music, this can be achieved in multiple ways, however I will focus on three aspects that I find particularly important when listening to music.      When co...
Read more