"Laser Graffiti" – The Galvatrons

lasergraffiti

It’s a pretty gutsy move for a band to open an album with a full choir declaring “We’re here to save the world.” When these are the first lines of your debut album, it’s even riskier. Yet something about The Galvatrons makes you believe them.

Just like that dramatic opening, Laser Graffiti is an album impossible to ignore. Everything is big: the guitars, the synth chords, and ego. But that’s the point. This is a disc which takes its cues from Van Halen, Queen’s Flash Gordon soundtrack, and the pretentious hair bands of the 80s. Some might accuse it of being derivative, but it also sounds like nothing else on the modern music landscape.

The Galvatrons wear their influences and hearts on their sleeve. They may be flamboyant, but their unwavering belief in that vision encourages listeners to go along for the ride. The band captures our imagination with lyrics about driving the car too fast, staying out all night, and skipping school. Those familiar themes are so appealing to someone of my vintage who remembers hearing them first on Poison and Bon Jovi albums, and they might just inspire today’s rebellious teens.

The Galvatrons are either crazy or geniuses. No one makes a record like this today. Yet as the closing strains of the final track “Galaxy Destroyer” repeated the refrain, “We’re here to save the world,” I believed them. They won’t do it by reversing climate change or ending any wars. But The Galvatrons compel us to punch our fists in the air and remember how good music can feel, and that’s a start.

Image source: Cream; Newscom

The Galvatrons Studio Diary Dishes Dirt on "Laser Graffiti"

Retro rock fans everywhere are getting excited about the release of Laser Graffiti, the debut album from The Galvatrons next month. Today I received the band’s studio diary from Warner Music and was told I could share it with you all. It’s definitely whetted my appetite for the long-play!

Studio Diary for the making of Laser Graffiti Or When Keyboards try to be Guitars
Chapter 1 – Pre- Production, or how the bloody hell are we gonna do this?
The first week of December 2008 we spent doing pre‐ production for the album at Deluxe Studios in South Melbourne. During this time we met with great anticipation and trepidation our producer, Scott Horscroft. Scott previously worked with The Presets, The Panics, and silverchair, and we were keen to see what would come of our collaboration with this eccentric man (which for all descriptions he is …)

Scott flew down from Sydney for the week to get a vibe for what we wanted to do for the record, telling us his vibe, just a lot of vibing really in South Melbourne, which really has no vibe at all. Most of what we worked at was re‐ jigging structures for the songs, and where the extra bits would come into it. It was a fairly relaxed week, jamming in the studio live and getting the structure right for tracking. Notable was the writing of “Molotov Cocktail” during this time (the albums “party” track … maybe the chorus lyrics have something to do with that … moving on …)

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