Some guys you can just trust. Like Kane Williamson at the batting crease, they rarely let you down, somehow finding a level of consistency that belies belief. Actors like John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi somehow manage to be good in any film they choose. Ty Segall is a man who fits this bill, grinding out album after album of wonderfully crunchy, catchy throwback garage rock and his new record, ‘Manipulator’, is at the height of it all.

If Ty Segall ever does release a bad album the upside is that he’s so prolific that he’ll probably have another one out within a couple of months. ‘Manipulator’ is his seventh release under his own name in as many years, not to mention the numerous side projects, compilations, singles and collaborations he’s been a part of. And that includes gigs as a sideman and a producer. He’s got a work ethic that makes James Brown look like Shuggie Otis in his creative abundance.

Contrary to reputation though, this album took 14 months to write and record. It was a conscious effort on Segall’s part to get the best possible product out there; a statement double album that would sit as a milestone in his legacy. 17 tracks over 56 minutes – it’s a headbanger’s paradise.

Nobody really bothers with double albums anymore. Since you can fit the whole thing on a single CD now it’s not quite the same. It used to be that the fabled double album was the masterpiece that came at the creative and critical apex – think The White Album, Physical Graffiti, Electric Ladyland or Blone on Blonde. That mystique has faded as music has become more accessible and albums easier to record and release. But Segall is a throwback artist. His signature Californian garage/flower punk/rock and roll draws from all over the spectrum of 60s and 70s heroes, from Marc Bolan to David Bowie to The Kinks to Iggy Pop to Black Sabbath to Zeppelin to the Stones. Hell, he even puts out cassette tapes still!

Most of Segall’s previous albums have stuck to a concept of sorts. ‘Sleeper’ was an acoustic acid trip with some elements of a young Neil Young (Neil Young²?), ‘Slaughterhouse’ was fast, loud and Stoogesian while ‘Goodbye Bread’ had melodies and Kinksy tendencies. And side project Fuzz was as it sounds – early Black Sabbath-esque.

‘Manipulator’ is possibly his first album not to go off in a new direction. It’s a sprawling and deliberate culmination of all that he’s done before. You’ve got driving psych rock like the title/opening track, the acoustic reveries of ‘The Singer’, the uptempo rocker ‘It’s Over’, the funky ‘Mister Main’ and the 70s arena power of ‘Feel’, which he absolutely ripped to goddamn shreds on Conan last week. It’s a smorgasbord of 27 year old (!) Segall’s career and major sonic influences. Guitar riffs thunder and the drums charge onwards. Solos wail above each other and the hooks will have you wailing along incoherently. There’s not a bad song among the lot.

I’m so sick of hearing people sing about (and even more-so people writing about people singing about this and overanalysing things) how damaged they are. It’s such a cliché these days to be that tortured artist. That’s why I love how genuinely honest Segall is. He’s just this Californian dude that the beach and surfing and shredding on his guitar. And pounding on his drum kit. In fact he plays almost all of the instruments here, and he does so bloody well too. There are even drum solos! Ah, John Bonham would be so proud…

While Segall may wear a few of his influences pretty firmly on his sleeve, he’s hardly a tribute act. He takes elements from all over and mixes them together into something new. He sings of modern ordeals, ‘Susie Thumb’ for example touches on technological immersion, others on the surveillance state or the wide-eyed emptiness of the idiot box. Man, but he sings with such swagger! Just like all the great rock and rollers of the past (until Cobain came along and made them feel self-conscious), although he does have this faux-British intonation that he sings with (just as his buddy Tim Presley does) that would seem tacky if he didn’t sell it so well. ‘Manipulator’ pure and simply Rocks. Segall kicks the hell outta these jams. ‘The Faker’ melts my brain every time without fail… “Ask your bossman… FOR A RAISE!”