Hum - Fillet Show (Private Remaster) - 02 Formaldehyde

Here is a private remaster of Hum's much overlooked debut album 'Fillet Show'. Their debut was the only album to feature singer and guitarist Andy Switzky as well as bassist Balthazar De Lay, alongside Hum stalwarts Matt Talbot and Bryan St. Pere. The droning, 'space rock' elements were certainly already there on their debut, albeit in a scrappier, less polished manner which for me, made these recordings quite charming. My particular favourite is 'Formaldehyde' from Andy Switzky, it reminds me of Eric Gaffney's off-kilter contributions to Sebadoh. 'Staring at the Sun' shows the band were capable of the catchy, noise laden melodies they became known for.
So why the private remaster? Compared to the rest of Hum's backcatalogue, 'Fillet Show' always sounded a little thin and brash, the vocals were often buried in the mix, drums sometime burst through and at other times were too low in the mix. I spent some time trying to rebalance each track invidually, putting special emphasis on trying to get the mix more balanced across each track. Next up was some re-EQing to help thicken up the sound, to impart some of that later Hum 'wall of sound' signature to this album. Lastly some volume balancing between tracks was required as the original CD mastering had some issues in this area.
So, here's to 'Fillet Show' (so, I didn't get that the title was a bit of a punny innuendo, mostly because where I live we pronounce the 't' at the end of 'Fillet' and I had been calling this album 'Fill-it Show' ever since I discovered it! If you're confused, pronounce it 'Fill-ay' and you might just get the title as it was intended!). Enjoy!
"Fillet Show is the debut album of the Champaign, Illinois based post-hardcore band Hum, released in 1991. It is their only official release to feature original frontman Andy Switzky.
Track listing
"Space Fuck" - 4:29
"Formaldehyde" - 2:27
"Detassler" - 2:32
"Staring at the Sun" - 2:39
"Hortense" - 3:35
"King of Night" - 2:45
"Lip Saga" - 4:06
"I Like It" - 2:48
"Pocket" - 5:55
Personnel
Balthazar De Lay - bass, vocals, photography
Bryan St. Pere - drums
Andy Switzky - guitar, vocals
Matt Talbott - guitar, vocals
Additional personnel
Teak Philips - photography
Kent Whitesell - engineering, mixing, production"
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[@weenkid]

Sounds great man! Almost early nirvana sounding! Exquisite job.

[@zararity]

I don't know why but I've always had a soft spot for this song, it's nothing like what Hum went on to do, but yeah, it does sound a bit like scrappy, early Nirvana!

[@weenkid]

@@zararity Glad you feel the same!