Terrific song structure, passion for songwriting, and expert instrumentation are the stars of Wasted Shirt’s debut record. Despite some repetition problems on some tracks, every song is more than capable to draw awe and wonder from the amazing drum riffs being delivered by Chippendale and Segall’s increasingly impressive ability to put another project under his belt.
New project from Ty Segall and Brian Chippendale making its debut via Famous Class Records, Wasted Shirt’s nine track journey through hardcore punk may as well come with a sticker on the cover to remind the listener to breathe throughout the album.
With Ty Segall on guitar, bass, as well as other instruments and Brian Chippendale handling terrific drumming, the duo seem perfectly in-synch with each other, leading many listeners to probably infer that this is any album number other than a debut from the dream team.
Wasted Shirt wastes absolutely no time introducing their brand of music with a piercing scream, manic guitars, and excellent percussion. Every song on the record is decorated with fuzzy bass, raw vocal screaming, inventive drum beats, and guitars that wail. With most songs ending well below the three minute mark, Segall and Chippendale have their writing down to a science. Production is better left minimal as the absolute raw feel helps create a wall of sound that is absolutely essential to absorb to enjoy the record. The challenge with writing so many rapid, short songs comes in the way of making the time spent different with each tune.
“The Purple One” stands out as it begins with a sole acoustic guitar before the bass fills the skeleton frame of the song. “Eagle Slaughter Graduation” finds a voice in the screeching guitars that “sing” throughout the track. The downside of some of the songs may be the repetitive nature of some songs. “Zeppelin 5” repeats the bass and guitar riff well for a minute before it changes, then returns to the initial riff. The same problem is true of “Double The Dream.”
By Caleb Ortiz