GØGGS
Pre Strike Sweep
IN THE RED
7/10
If you know only one thing about Ty Segall, it’s that he’s everywhere all the time. (It would behoove you to know more than that, but he’s admittedly hard to keep up with.) Since his debut over ten years ago, Segall has been comically productive, releasing new music at an incredible rate. He’s a prolific solo artist, a current member of a few bands, and an ex-member of even more.
Surely, then—based purely on statistics—his music shouldn’t be as consistently good as it is. But it is. His work with GØGGS, which he founded in 2015 with frequent collaborator Charles Moothart (Fuzz, Epsilons, Ty Segall Band) and Ex-Cult’s Chris Shaw, is no exception. Their self-titled 2016 debut album was a full-on psych-punk frenzy, written collaboratively but driven largely by Shaw.
Pre Strike Sweep, the second GØGGS LP, comes with the official addition of bassist Michael Anderson. The record is another joint effort, with Shaw once again responsible for the lyrics. It’s at least as relentless as the band’s debut, but it’s not as far out. Pre Strike Sweep is a straight shooter, leaner and meaner, with Shaw’s sneering vocals and Moothart’s driving percussion. The whole thing is often reined in by Anderson’s punchy bass lines, which get a well-deserved chance to shine. The tracks make up a series of hits, and the album ends with the one-two combo of the total onslaught of “Funeral Relief” and “Morning Reaper,” which sounds like what might happen if Fugazi and The Hives spent studio time together. The band shows no signs of slowing, but then, just like that, the album’s over.
Like much of Segall and co.’s discography, Pre Strike Sweep feels effortless, like it was simply in them and had to come out. It’s a fireball of an album, blistering from start to finish. Of GØGGS, Shaw has said, “This is not a side project, it is a necessity,” and here he and his bandmates make abundantly clear that none of them are fucking around.
