Local Review: Sego — Direct to DVD

Sego
Direct to DVD
Self-Released
Street: 02.09.2026
Sego = Beck + Spoon + Dazy

Let me begin by admitting that it’s been about a decade since I caught up with Sego, and I only have myself to blame. When I was studying at Utah Valley University, they were the rock band to see in the valley of the shadow of death, so I saw them perform at The Velour and Provo street festivals several times. Despite the band’s funked-up, smoothed-out garage vibe which was supposedly right up my alley at the time, something I can’t put my finger on always kept me from becoming a serious fan. Fast forward to earlier this month, and there I am listening to Direct to DVD for the first time, regretting that I hadn’t paid more attention all these years.

From the moment the record opens with Spencer Petersen’s gravelly voice phasing in and out on “Never Enuf,” Sego weirds the indie rock formula with quirky experimentation. Throughout the album, you’ll hear strange little details — like the digitally detuning acoustic guitar at the end of “Shook” or the gratuitous synth oscillations in “SAD” — where you can tell someone in the band decided to lovingly pull against the listener’s expectations. 

This isn’t to say that Direct to DVD is one of those avant-garde records which only the most pretentious of listeners can pretend to tolerate. Far from it. With groovy basslines, multiple call and response lyrics and rad guitar solos (most notably on “Buy It Break It”), Sego shows the listener a good time instead of pursuing eccentricity for eccentricity’s sake. The result is an album that is intensely enjoyable for house parties and casual listening but also rewards a focused ear.

The record’s sole misstep is Sego’s slow and bemused cover of Rod Stewart‘s “Young Turks.” Now, I am by no means a Rod Stewart fanboy. But whereas Stewart’s performance in the original recording is soaringly impassioned, Petersen’s singing throughout Sego’s rendition is mumbly and reserved, never rising higher than a mellow croon. This delivery feels like a strange choice for a song about zealously throwing caution to the wind, especially since Pertersen proves on other tracks like “Buy It Break It” that he is more than capable of intensity. It isn’t necessarily a bad cover, and Sego’s deconstruction of the original song’s guitar solo is interesting, but I do think they could have punched up their reading a bit more.

Immediately after this lackluster cover comes what I consider the album’s standout track, “Dilute You V2_07-21-17.” Between the track’s title, which reads like the file name of an early demo entombed in a musician’s labyrinth of subfolders, and its unpolished sound, it really feels a bit like the album’s unloved bastard child. Nevertheless, the track represents the genre-dismantling experimentation I consider one of Sego’s greatest strengths. 

The song kicks off with fast-paced, proggy guitar licks which drop out when Peterson begins to enigmatically chant, “Living in the age of fetish / Foolish fantasy / Dusty endeavors” over a pulverizing bassline. The band bounces back and forth several times between reprisals of the intro riff and similarly enigmatic verses until the chorus, on which Petersen wails “Dilute you / Fade into the months / Vexed and alone / Thin as everyone that you knew.” The track then flows through a few different rhythms and moods, leaving the listener more than a little rattled. This musical disorientation well accentuates the song’s lyrical theme: the dissolution of what it means to be human in an increasingly digital landscape. 

The record closes with three remixes of songs Sego released years ago. Between these remixes and the album’s handful of collaboration tracks, Direct to DVD feels like a loud and amiable summer backyard shindig that Sego invited all their coolest musician friends to attend. You’d be a fool not to make an appearance. 

Direct to DVD is now available to stream on all platforms along with the rest of Sego’s discography, and you better believe I will be making up for lost time with a penitent Sego deep dive over the next several weeks. —Joe Roberts

Read more music reviews by Joe Roberts:
Local Review: The Hit — Heart And The Good Chin
Local Review: The Gully Bandits — Space EP

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