Wasted Shirt

An anarchic melange of boundary-free experimental rock, purposefully chaotic noise, and primal garage punk, Wasted Shirt marked the first pairing of two noted figures in underground rock, lo-fi garage punk auteur <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Ty Segall</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2og3FOCLYXT9H7IYE6QPUq">Lightning Bolt</a> drummer and co-founder <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Brian Chippendale</a>. Both artists took time off from their busy schedules to team up in the studio in July 2018, and the result, 2020's Fungus II, was a manic sonic adventure powered by <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a>'s energetic percussion and <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Segall</a>'s arsenal of guitars and noise-making gear.

A musician and visual artist, <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Brian Chippendale</a> studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and started on the saxophone before he moved over to playing the drums. While at RISD, <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a> met fellow student Brian Gibson, and together they formed <a href="spotify:artist:2og3FOCLYXT9H7IYE6QPUq">Lightning Bolt</a> in 1995, who became one of the most influential acts in the noise rock community in the 2000s. During his time away from <a href="spotify:artist:2og3FOCLYXT9H7IYE6QPUq">Lightning Bolt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a> devoted himself to printmaking and a variety of side projects, including his electronic alter ego <a href="spotify:artist:4C9qhOkWrX1N9vYvzrD5fe">Black Pus</a>, as well as guesting with <a href="spotify:artist:4pxlntE89zyfL0txVloogM">the Boredoms</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7w29UYBi0qsHi5RTcv3lmA">Björk</a>. Meanwhile, after making his name with a pair of albums he recorded as part of the group <a href="spotify:artist:3PYmjKStjI9Cf4PSq3ZIek">the Epsilons</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Ty Segall</a> launched a prolific solo career in 2008 as his music evolved from faithful re-creations of '60s garage sounds to increasingly eclectic and ambitious productions that found him embracing experimental and outre influences within the boundaries of fractured but melodic rock & roll. <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Segall</a> seemed like two musicians destined to cross paths, and that was just what happened in 2018, as they blocked out plans to record together. The pair holed up in <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Segall</a>'s home recording studio from July 5, 2018 to July 13, 2018, with <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a> on drums and percussion, <a href="spotify:artist:58XGUNsRNu3cVOIOYk5chx">Segall</a> on guitar, bass, and harmonizer, and both handling vocals. It wasn't until February 2020 that the fruits of their labors were released to the public. Adopting the group name Wasted Shirt, they titled the album Fungus II (no word if Fungus I is in the works), which was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Famous+Class+Records%22">Famous Class Records</a>; the vinyl edition included a Risograph lyric booklet created by <a href="spotify:artist:7BlrmDRvku2hLFjVFzP88i">Chippendale</a>. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi