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.


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