All Is Lost: A Brief Review Of The New Album From Wasted Shirt (Ty Segall & Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale)

What in the holy hell is this? While I think these two guys have caused enough sonic commotion to give any listener a fair indication of what would happen if they got together, this new project from Ty Segall and Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale is still a total kick in the head. Fungus II from Wasted Shirt, out tomorrow on Famous Class, is chaos and catharsis, both amplified up to ungodly levels.

The screams and beats of "All is Lost" suggest something that might be a bit of funky acid rock, and most of these tracks are, but the wonderfully-titled "Zeppelin 5" gives you exactly what you'd expect to get from these two. Feedback, noise, Moon-like drumming, and freak-outs all over the place, this is a joyously unhinged bit of nonsense. Elsewhere, "Double the Dream" is like early Mudhoney or Tad stuff revved up and driven into the heart of the sun, while "The Purple One" wouldn't have sounded out of place on nearly any of the Ty Segall albums you've probably held close to your heart during the last decade. Only epic closer "Four Strangers Entered the Cement at Dusk" seems truly different than what you might predict these two to conjure up. Sludge-y stoner rock, this one is the comedown from the riotous shenanigans earlier on the album.

More details on Ty Segall via his official website. More details on Lighting Bolt and Brian Chippendale via LaserBeast.com.

Funguss II is out tomorrow via Famous Class.

[Photos: Scott Alario & Denée Segall]