Sleeper

Many roots and rock songwriters start that process on an acoustic guitar and at some point in their careers decide it'd be best to present their songs the way they first heard them, with only enough accompaniment to strengthen the initial idea. In the tradition of singer/songwriters like Syd Barrett, Johnny Thunders, R. Stevie Moore, Nikki Sudden, Beck, and Jay Reatard, Ty Segall emphasizes his limited acoustic guitar abilities and his emotionally overwhelmed vocal style until the songs sound like the midnight ramblings of a ghost. Of course, this approach also leads some modern writers down the freak-folk path of Devendra Banhart and Kimya Dawson, and you can hear that in the unpolished falsetto styling at the end of "Crazy," the sirens that call in their own key on "She Don't Care," and the seriously warped "6th Street." In other spots, Segall sounds like he misses the chomp of a fuzz-based garage band; "The Man Man" is sung with a rhythmic energy that requires a drummer (and an electric guitar shows up late in the final minute). "Sweet C.C." evokes a memory of T. Rex's Marc Bolan in its cosmic dreams.