The Super Fuzz (previously The Chris Alvy Band) transports listeners back to the 1970s with the release of Art Noise on Oct. 2. Many great things came out of that era and either the band members are stuck back in time, or they wanted to revive classic rock. Part of me wants to argue why revive something that is “classic?” Why try to fix what is not broken? Classic rock is classic for a reason and should be left to what has been done already by some great musicians of the time or to some washed-up cover bands playing dive bars. Unfortunately, The Super Fuzz does, in fact, sound like a washed-up cover band that is in desperate need of new material.
In the first three tracks, it was obvious that the entire disc was going to congeal together with the same repetitive sound. Lead vocalist Chris Alvy has a whining voice that doesn’t seem to alter on the tracks. It is very one-dimensional and when backup vocalist Todd Taulbee joins in, somewhere in the world a cat is screeching due to the horrible harmony between the two singers. “Love” is a track where everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong. Alvy’s monotone vocals sank the track and the guitar riffs seemed to be clashing everywhere. Listening to the studio version and live version of “Art Noise” did not make much of a difference; not even great editing skills could’ve resurrected this song from the dead.
I love classic rock, but trying to put a contemporary spin on it can cause a band to crash and burn. The Super Fuzz should either take a new direction in their style or stop playing the same melody over and over.
In A Word: Broken
