Ty Segall had a ridiculously prolific 2018. Between his solo albums, his work with
White Fence and
GØGGS, and a limited-run cassette he sold at a show of his visual art,
Segall released five albums in that year, and when you add in his side project
the C.I.A., the year-end total comes to seven. A collaboration between
Segall, his spouse Denée Segall, and
Emmett Kelly of the
Cairo Gang,
the C.I.A. played a few club shows in mid-2018 and released a cassette-only EP that was sold only at their shows. Now
the C.I.A. have delivered an album, simply titled
The C.I.A., though since its ten songs clock in at just a bit over 22 minutes, calling it a full-length release might be a little generous. Still, if short, fast, and simple, there's more than enough sheer passion and force in this music to go over with just about anyone who digs
Segall's body of work. In
The C.I.A., Denée Segall handles the lead vocals, revealing a stylish and impassioned bellow that's somewhere between a new wave chanteuse and a Riot Grrrl in full ranting mode, while
Ty and
Emmett crank out a fuzzy low end on guitar and bass run through a variety of stomp boxes, and an antique drum machine percolates in the background. This music is stark enough to pass for vintage Lower East Side no wave, but the melodic sensibility is clearly rooted in punk and garage rock, and the boom and tish of the rhythm machine suggests vintage synth punk was part of the formula as well. (Further pointing to this influence, a cover of the Screamers' "Magazine Love" appeared on the cassette but doesn't show up on this album.) These ten songs clank as much as they groove, but the inspired noise of
Ty's guitar is always a pleasure, and it does not fail him here. At the same time, if Denée is just pretty good as a singer, as a performer and focal point for this album, she's inspired, sounding truly mighty even when her screams push at the limits of her instrument.
The C.I.A. sounds like it was probably put together in a few brief sessions, but that suits this music; like their creative forebearers, this trio kicked this out in a burst of powerful inspiration, and if this had been pressed up as a 45 in 1979, one of these tracks would probably ended up on a Killed By Death compilation by now.
The C.I.A. is good noisy, cranky fun from folks who know how. ~ Mark Deming