I’m still up in the air on Ty Segall. I really want to like him. The first time I saw him (SXSW 2009) I thought he was the next big thing, heir to Jay Reatard’s garage pop wunderkind throne. His performance at SXSW was barely controlled chaos, but Segall and his band managed to keep the songs just this side of falling apart. Subsequent performances I witnessed didn’t quite match the power of the first. Segall’s recorded output does capture his live essence, something not easy to do, especially with noisier, reverb-heavy bands. But there’s something about his albums that doesn’t grab me the way that first live show did. I really like his self-titled album on Castle Face, but Lemons, his second album, didn’t flow for me. Melted is better, but still doesn’t quite match up to his first. Best tracks: “Girlfriend” and “Imaginary Person.” –Sal Lucci
–guest (Goner)