Ty Segall’s sound occupies a broad spectrum, bouncing between dirty garage rock (Slaugtherhouse), psych-folk (Manipulator), and everywhere in between. Gøggs, Segall’s most recent band, is yet another foray into new territory: hardcore. The first album from the project, which features Ex-Cult’s Chris Shaw on vocals, Ty on guitar, and longtime Segall collaborator Charles Moothart on drums, relies heavily on a mechanical kind of punk and leaves a lot of Segall’s normal noisiness by the wayside. As Gøggs (In the Red Records) illustrates, no one ever really knows what Segall and his friends will end up doing when they start a new band.

While Gøggs plays well and showcases the band’s malleability, the album hardly reinvents the wheel. That’s beside the point, though, as they’ve locked into their sound. The minute-long intro on “Falling In” and “Shotgun Shooter’s” instrumental moments are in the same league as the New Bomb Turks’ “File Under Defiled,” while “She Got Harder,” “Smoke the Wurm,” and “Needle Trade Off” are prototypical hardcore tracks. Part bark and part Jello Biafra yowl, Shaw’s vocals come off as an updated version of his Californian luminaries. However, it’s when Gøggs venture into less punk territory on “Final Notice” that Shaw shines, expelling punishing screams over something that sounds like a demented version of a children’s playtime song. Still, even when the band relaxes its tempos and Segall’s guitar softens (as on the title track and “Glendale Junkyard”), the aural experience is not unlike feeling your ears cave in at a dive bar show.

Even if somewhat derivative, Gøggs’ debut is a well-executed record that mines a timeless aesthetic. Finding a band that meshes well together is a rare treat in itself, and Gøggs should be applauded just for that.