Manipulator
Ty Segall’s public profile has steadily grown, along with a critical reputation for being the real deal when it comes to reinvigorating rock ’n’ roll from numerous angles. The garage rocker hasn’t only stayed in the garage but ventured into other genres to go along with his Iggy Pop–style psych-punk rock fixations. (*Manipulator* shows signs of picking through the T. Rex catalog.) At 17 tracks, Segall’s seventh album is laid out like a classic double album, with enough focused music to satisfy fans and enough fooling around to make the two LPs feel like the proper format for Segall’s consistently shifting visions.
The clarion call/siren sound of his guitar....the helium-steamed ride of the vocals....track after track, releasing the thought that have been holding us down, all in the name of getting higher on pop songs. Why have one when you can have two? It's a big world, and MANIPULATOR has only begun to fight.
Manipulator represents the inevitable pause from Ty Segall's usual breakneck pace, its 17-song, double-album sprawl the product of an unprecedented (for him) 14-month writing process. The extra attention to detail is felt on every song here.
There’s one entire year separating Ty Segall’s last album, Sleeper, and his new one, Manipulator. That might as well be an eternity for Segall, whose prolificacy has yielded some of the best, most paradoxically evolved garage rock of the decade so far. If there’s one thing that can be said about Manipulator, it…
Laguna Beach's relentless troubadour returns with another classy set of intelligent pop songs.
With Manipulator, the oft-frenetic visionary Ty Segall slows his cadence to a coherent, deliberate pace.
It's not exactly a secret that Ty Segall has been allowing his inner popmeister to take the spotlight with greater frequency as his solo career has gained traction, and with 2014's Manipulator, he's delivered one of his most satisfying fusions of pop songcraft and rock & roll snazz.
"You're the same as me/You'll never be free," snarls Ty Segall on "The Feels," a Sabbath-informed piece of cosmic bummer sludge-punk.
This is the work of an artist who’s still intent on tearing things up, and understands how to shape interesting music out of the remnants.
TY Segall's new album 'Manipulator' reviewed by Northern Transmissions. The full-length comes out August 25 on Drag City. The lead single is "Susie Thumb"
The indie rocker's latest solo album is a precise and cleanly recorded statement of ambitious intent, writes Michael Hann