Ty Segall

★★★ Pig Man Lives Volume 1: Demos 2007-2017 SEA NOTE. LP

Quadruple vinyl deep-dive of the workaholic Californian’s tape cupboard.

A prolific garage-psych polymath and tireless manufacturer of vinyl collectables, Ty Segall’s quest to clear his archives of unreleased material continues apace. Comprising demos of songs that later surfaced on his last six albums (plus two unremarkable previously unheard compositions), Pig Man’s an alternate history of an experimental period for Segall, from the haywire Twins, through 2014’s polished Manipulator, to the epic sprawl of last year’s Freedom’s Goblin.

Its highlights – an early Thank God For The Sinners, heavy with Sabbath-esque doubletracked guitars; a Cramps-y Connection, yet to find its uptight, motorik groove – capture moments of inspiration in the woodshed, though few tracks diverge too far from their studio incarnations. As such, Pig Man is probably inessential to all but the truly devoted, though its 47 tracks rarely fail to electrify, testament to Segall’s industriousness and his seemingly inexhaustible fountain of future nuggets.