Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio, we’ve been listening to the lead single from the forthcoming self-titled debut album of Las Vegas (US) artists, Galactic Fuzz. Transparent is a track which fades in slowly with Science Fiction feeling sound effects before launching into the full band sound of this new three piece.
Lead vocalist, Javier Guell, reminded us in places of the great Kurt Cobain. With an effortless 90s grunge feel to the whole track, it is evident that you’re listening to three very skilled musicians.
The drums are interesting and with some characterful rhythms. They are very skilfully played and keep the track in time perfectly throughout the song. They feel very much like an instrument all of their own, rather than just something to back up the band.
We like the subtle use of harmonies in places that back up the lead vocal very well without dominating.
The guitar playing in this track is extremely proficient; both the heavy grungey feeling rhythm as well as the sublimely melodic solo playing with some very skilled playing and great note choices.
Some very cool chords that wouldn’t normally fit together meant that Galactic Fuzz are able to change key without the listener even noticing. This is a classic grunge trick. It seems that each time the verse comes in it’s gone up a semitone, but to the average listener, this is a completely seamless transition. Expertly done, guys!
From a production perspective, we felt that there is a lot of unnecessary rumble in the sub bass area so a hi-pass filter set around 35Hz would be a good idea. We heard a couple of tones peaking out in various places in the song. The first was at 230Hz and another as 1.3kHz so a couple of surgical EQ cuts here would resolve this. The track felt a little heavy around 400Hz in places giving it the occasional ‘boxy’ tone so a wider cut here would balance it out a little. The whole track could use a little extra brightness so a large and wide boost centred around 8kHz would give the track some more ‘life’. This could however increase some sibilant tones in the vocal line so a carefully placed thinner EQ cut back down around 8kHz would be a good idea.
Transparent is a promising start for Galactic Fuzz. This self-produced single has absolutely fantastic and creative songwriting, together with some highly skilled musicianship. We are eager to see where Galactic Fuzz go next!