Ty Segall’s Band, Fuzz, Is Back With More

The rock ‘n’ roll trio channels Black Sabbath and others on their new album, Fuzz II.

The rock ‘n’ roll power trio may not seem like much—just guitar, bass, and drums—but it sure can stir up a tsunami of musical mayhem. “It’s a time-tested formula that has always worked,” Ty Segall says, referencing iconic trios like Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and ZZ Top.

“It’s a wall of force with enough room for everyone to breathe.” As a member of Fuzz, a three-piece, jam-based riff machine of a band specializing in grinding guitars, swinging drums, and legions of low end, the multi-instrumentalist knows from firsthand experience.

On their second album, Fuzz II(due October 23), the three friends—Segall on drums, guitarist Charles Moothart, and bassist Chad Ubovich—pick up right where their pummeling, proto-metal, self-titled 2013 debut left off.

On the manic “Bringer of Light,” the band channels vintage Black Sabbath, Segall’s voice an appealingly Ozzy-esque shadowy snicker; “Red Flag,” by comparison, is nothing more than 110 seconds of earsplitting punk riot fury; and on “II,” a 13-minute-plus prog-rock epic, dudes stretch out in a major way.

For his several other bands, the absurdly prolific Segall typically writes by his lonesome “in a room all day long with no light, drinking 12 cups of coffee,” as he puts it. But most of the Fuzz’s impressive canon was constructed by the group as a whole. “It’s a very amazing chemical formula,” Segall offers. “It’s really communal. And that’s the beauty of collaboration. You never really know how something is going to end up.”

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