Album number two from Ty Segall, Charlie Mootheart, Chris Shaw & Michael Anderson finds the quartet taking up where 2016's self-titled debut long player left off. Similarly to what he was up to at that time Ty's, for my money, released one of the best album's you'll find this (or any other) year, followed by the mediocre Joy in collaboration with Tim Presley. Pre Strike Sweep happily blows off the cobwebs which may have accumulated around that latter album.

Opening track 'Killing Time' assaults you right away and then rips along for three riff and phaser-heavy minutes. If you're not nodding your head off by the end of it then you probably need to listen to something else.

The full-on approach of Pre Strike Sweep continues on the title track (they do like that phaser pedal a lot) as the riffs, insistent vocals and pounding drums don't let up for a second. And so it goes for the other nine songs.

Which means there's not a great deal more which can be said about the release. Nuanced it ain't so there's no tricky little details to turn you on to and I doubt the lyrics exhibit a mass of memorable turns of phrase. It's a fast paced rocking, punky record & right up your street if that's your bag. If the calmer part of the musical spectrum is where your cup of tea lies, however, then as previously stated you need to back off now. We'll be playing it for a while yet though.

Segall's next release is a covers album (Fudge Sandwich, out October 26th). Despite his outstanding version of 'Everyone's A Winner' the memory of those T-Rex covers still lingers with me so I'll not be rushing to play that, in which case his next next full-length should hopefully be the first great album of 2019.

Pre Strike Sweep is available from In The Red Records here.

The first time you see someone perform live in their own right isn't always the best show you'll ever get from them but, in the case of Ty Segall and his Freedom Band bassist Mikal Cronin, those instances for me will be hard to top. Tonight's show is nevertheless one I've greatly anticipated, not least due to the good reports I've had about The Boilershop as a venue. 

Given the time of year and the number of windows the venue sports on its western wall there's little need for electric light in the body of the hall during the opening performance by local band Them Things or that by travelling support Mike Donovan. Thus the atmosphere's much like that at a festival and the goings on on stage provide just a backing track for a lot of people's conversations and drinking, ourselves included. Them Things therefore made little impression on me although the singer's white jacket stood out & Mike Donovan made plenty of noise for a one man outfit but I didn't feel inspired to then check out his work once back home.

Crewing for themselves meant that Ty Segall & the band wasted no time in getting into position and letting loose, with the minimum of chat (no need to appeal to stage divers this time round, although given UK Health & Safety that was probably never likely anyway). Ty turned 31 today so 'Happy Birthday' was duly sung to him a few times by the crowd & that was obviously appreciated.

Mikal Cronin seemed to be suffering from a cold to some degree & Charlie Mootheart (occupying the drum stool) looked like he'd caught too much sun but all five players kept it tight throughout, at one point even managing to inspire a circle pit at the front of the stage. 'Everyone's A Winner' received no special placing in the setlist, being run through round about three songs in or so. Maybe they're getting bored of it already but it still went down well with the crowd, meeting as it does the maxim of making cover versions your own.

Longer, and maybe closer to the band's heart, was their version of The Groundhogs' 'Cherry Red'. This bears no great difference from the original (or the one delivered by The Monkeywrench for that matter) but the younger members of the audience likely haven't seen such a number played authentically live before so there's a benefit in that.

Fault though was impossible to find with the show, despite 'She' not featuring in the set (I'd been looking forward to that riff), and the location proved itself to be as good as had been reported once the sun set. A performance fully up to scratch and, whilst not topping that of two years ago that has to be viewed in the light of an unmatchable experience I reckon so, as he supposedly plans to dial down on touring for a while after the current run of dates, this was an experience to savour as it could be a while before he's back (a tour which would hopefully feature a Scottish date). He's definitely had better t-shirt designs in the past though as the two tonight were weak. Even just the cliche of the album cover would have been better.  

Further images from the show here.