Ty Segall – Memphis Flyer

Ex-Cult hit the road for SXSW at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and thanks to our smart phones we avoided the horrendous traffic on I-40 west and took a state highway through beautiful rural Arkansas. Why are all the lakes around Forrest City, Arkansas the color of Mountain Dew Baja Blast? Other than a few minor traffic setbacks, we made really good time and got into Austin around 12:30 a.m..

Because we had no desire to get into the chaos that was happening downtown (and because they stop serving booze at 2 a.m.), our first stop was The Grand, a nice pool hall that seemed like more of a local hangout than a hipster haven. However our server assured us there would be live music at The Grand for the rest of the weekend. There’s probably 30 bands playing there right now. I suppose I should take this time to give some background on SXSW for those who are unfamiliar. What started out as a festival to get unsigned bands attention (and record deals) has turned into a full-blown shit show, with 1000’s of bands playing anywhere they can plug a power strip into.

Seriously, there are so many shows going on 24/7 that businesses actually have signs that say NO LIVE BANDS HERE. Yes, its gotten to the point where its rare for a band NOT to be playing. SXSW is also an energy vortex. Because there are roughly 891735 people trying to Instagram their experience, cell phone coverage is almost non-existent. I left the house we were staying at with a full charge and by 2 p.m. my phone was dead. I’ve got a charger in my pocket and a camera in my hand, so I promise tomorrow’s recap will be HEAVY on the pictures. Until then, enjoy these two photos of La Luz and Ty Segall playing Street Legal Guitars, a new guitar store with a warehouse space for shows.

Seattles La Luz warms up the crowd at Street Legal Guitars

Chris Shaw
Seattle’s La Luz warms up the crowd at Street Legal Guitars

A blood-thirsty crowd inches closer to Ty Segall and his band.

Chris Shaw
A blood-thirsty crowd inches closer to Ty Segall and his band.

Annabel Mehran
Ty Segall

California’s Ty Segall is a garage-punk prodigy who might be on a par with Jack White or Jay Reatard when it comes to inherent musicality or prolificness, though he so far lacks quite as compelling a sense of purpose as White’s wounded romanticism or Reatard’s now-tragic sense of self discovery.

Since emerging roughly a half-decade ago, Segall has averaged well more than an album a year, whether solo, with his touring band, alongside fellow Cali collaborator Mikal Cronin. Segall released two solo albums on Chicago’s Drag City label — Hair and the possible career-best Twins — as well as a the Ty Segall Band album Slaughterhouse on Los Angeles’ In the Red, a label also re-released Segall & Cronin’s 2009, previously vinyl-only Reverse Shark Attack, this week. Earlier in his propulsive career, Segall released two albums — 2009’s Lemons and 2010’s Melted — for Memphis’ Goner Records.

Here Segall is, making his national television debut, last fall on Conan O’Brien, tearing up the studio with “Thank God for Sinners,” the lead track from Twins: