LIVE: Fuzz - Levitation Sessions

Reminiscent of early Sabbath, Fuzz played like they'd never taken a break from their face-melting exploits during their recent livestream set from LA's Zebulon.

Posted: 27 April 2021 Words: Tom Mangham

Following in the steps of their west coast compatriots OSees, Fuzz returned to the live arena with a triumphant set in the Levitation Sessions series.

Raucous as ever and playing like they never took a break from their face-melting exploits, Fuzz played a well-rounded outdoor set at Los Angeles venue Zebulon with tracks from all of their three studio albums. Starting off with fan favourite ‘Earthen Gate’ from 2013’s self-titled debut LP, the mood was set with the sombre intro being played at night in front of an electric art mural by Tatiana Kartomten, however that sombre mood only lasted a minute and a half before launching into Fuzz’s signature brand of, well, fuzz.

Despite the show being pre-recorded and the only audience being cameras and crew members, the trio seemed excitable. Drummer and vocalist Ty Segall looked like he was having the most fun and was caught grinning from ear to ear at both guitarist/vocalist Charles Moothart (also of Segall’s own Freedom Band) and bassist/vocalist Chad Ubovich (also of garage outfit Meatbodies). All instrumentation was thoroughly on point with Moothart doing what he does best and shredding to the best of his ability while Ubovich often looked lost in the music, laying down his low-end bass that kept the mix tight. Segall, being the ever-present musical powerhouse that he is, remained a blur over the course of the 50-minute set, drumming like a man possessed while also up-keeping lead vocal duties, clearly a year of lockdown restrictions hasn’t diminished Segall’s ability to hypnotise a crowd, virtual or not.

This show, like all Levitation Sessions, was all about the music with little chatter and jumping from one track into another, but being fast and loose is part Fuzz’s method and their charm, always little messing about. Although ‘Returning’, lead single from latest LP III, and the explosive ‘Pipe’ rightly sent the in-show live chat into a spin of cheers, it was last song ‘Hazemaze’ that stood out on the night, reminiscent of early Sabbath, it managed to shake loose the most sceptical livestream gig viewer and bring on a head banging induced sweat despite being sat at home.

While it’s certainly a far cry from the intimacy (or carnage in Fuzz’s case) of a real show, the Levitation Sessions have made a fair shout for the best alternative bands and with Fuzz playing with as much energy and furiosity than ever, the last year of strangeness was almost forgotten, instead replaced by a haze of distortion and crash cymbals.