One of Ty Segall’s many bands, Fuzz, returns with its third album III, an energetic mix of in-your-face guitar rock. The band’s first album since 2015 is a tour de force of gritty garage rock, with a snarling attitude and an emphasis on riffing. Multi-instrumentalist Segall mans the drums while Charles Moothart, a frequent collaborator in Segall’s bands, handles the guitar. Bassist Chad Ubobich fleshes out the hard rocking trio.
Opening track “Returning” sets the tone for the album, pairing a charging rhythm with overwhelming distortion that swells and permeates the song. “There is no sum greater than one,” Segall sings, his aggressive drums adding extra bite.
Moothart’s guitar is dirty and loud, the distortion cranked up, and the notes feeding back into constant hums, buzzes, and screeches. That loud, purposely sloppy playing fits well with the tone and attitude of Fuzz’s raw, heavy music.
“Nothing People” is built around Chad Ubovich’s infectious bassline and Moothart’s psychedelic licks, the song substituting soaring guitar solos for choruses. “I see nothing people every day and it makes me want to sing,” Moothart sings over a grooving classic rock riff.
Fuzz’s music is light on storytelling, with lyrics and song structure taking a back seat to rocking out. There is little memorable about the songwriting of III; the lyrics are minimal and mostly abstract, but doesn’t really hurt the music. This isn’t an album for introspection or for contemplation of the songs’ meanings; it’s an album to crank up loud, bang some heads, and cause speeding tickets.
The verses of “Time Collapse” are slow and soft blues rhythms that explode into a loud, droning chorus. “After the light is gone you are always alone,” Moothart and Segall sing over a thick, crunching blues rock riff. Midway through the song, it screeches to a stop, Segall speeds up the rhythm, and the song kicks into overdrive. Moothart’s feedback and effect-heavy guitar solo takes over, his six-string attack accompanying an equally nasty rhythm.
The album’s best guitarwork is in “Close Your Eyes,” with Moothart laying down two wicked riffs and an inspired guitar solo. In “Blind to Vines,” Fuzz adds a bit of a southern rock twang. “My memory’s deforming me in this world I call home,” Segall sings.
III is not a subtle album nor one with much variety. From the first song to the last, it is an assault of raw, head-banging garage rock. Steve Albini’s production perfectly captures the band’s sound, reproducing the feeling of having your eardrums blown out standing in the front row of a Fuzz show.
