Ty Segall & White Fence

In this corner, noted solo artist and contributor to such bands as Sic Alps and Epsilons, San Francisco, CA's Ty Segall. In the other corner, the main man behind White Fence and member of Darker My Love and the Strange Boys, L.A.'s Tim Presley. While Segall's albums tend towards the harsher, extroverted end of the garage rock spectrum, and White Fence's West coast psychedelia comes off rather detached behind its lo-fi production, together Ty Segall and White Fence make a perfect collaboration. Their first of reportedly many more records to come, Hair tastefully balances Segall's immediacy and Presley's penchant for folky, UK, lysergic pop. It has all the youthful exuberance and drugged-up belligerence of the original Nuggets compilation condensed into eight varied jams, fraught with more mystifying dead ends, haunting passages and occultist excess than the Winchester Mystery House. It's like Hair was made by aliens who recently heard Earth's radio signals from the '50s through to the '70s. Most of the songs on Hair are familiar, yet Ty Segall & White Fence channel these sounds and melodies through a different, but no less relevant, set of life experiences. It's not a mere homage to the past, but a fresh perspective that plays off familiar forms.