II

Fuzz, Ty Segall's suitably named project focused on the noisy glories of first-stage heavy rock and grubby late-period psychedelia, haven't advanced much from a songwriting standpoint from their self-titled debut album in 2013, but their second studio offering, efficiently titled II, shows the trio's gift for the monstrous jam hasn't failed them in the least in the two years since the first set emerged. While Fuzz's attack doesn't fall entirely outside the boundaries of Segall's trademark sound, as on the first LP, the band's big name primarily plays the drums, and it's guitarist Charles Moothart and bassist Chad Ubovich who truly erect a wall of cranked-to-ten guitar fury with this material. The onslaught of Moothart's guitar is powerful and fluid enough that it's developed more of a personality of its own than on Fuzz's earliest recordings (despite the obvious influence of Tony Iommi and Leigh Stephens on his style), and the brontosaurus stomp of Ubovich's impenetrably thick basslines keeps these tunes firmly rooted at all times. Segall's drumming percolates through the mix and actually makes the music livelier, not just establishing the backbeat but punctuating the performances with an energy that's strong enough to be felt through the nonstop sonic pummeling of his bandmates. Fuzz do try to fancy things up with string charts on the relatively graceful "Silent Sits the Dust Bowl," and the 13-minute title track (yes, a song called "II") shows this band can jam at length without losing the plot or the intensity. The production on II is cleaner than on Fuzz's first studio album without ironing out the nooks and crannies of the band's sound (the report of Moothart and Ubovich's amps is just as fierce and buzzy as ever), and listeners who resonate to Iommic frequencies will get a righteous shake from this music.