You'd Prefer an Astronaut

I discovered Hum during the pandemic when they dropped their most recent LP, and instantly it was clear how influential and timeless this band is. The ‘space rock’ tag could easily end up invoking dopey 90s’ pop in disguise, but Hum make it stick with unrelenting walls of guitar and a perfectly-mixed rhythm section that keep the whole effort somehow tethered to Earth. Though some of the quieter, downtempo tracks feel a tad out of place on this album, the project as a whole presents an unapologetic artistic vision that clearly evokes a natural extension of the 90s grunge scene while feeling timeless even to this day. This LP in particular encapsulates the most visceral of Hum’s songwriting – the lyrics aren’t going to win a Pulitzer, but they manage to add just enough depth to some of the band’s most insane instrumentals that pushes this LP to the top for me. The loss of drummer Bryan St. Pere a few years ago was a huge loss for the band and music as a whole, especially for an outfit that had clearly maintained their form and had so much more to say musically. That the band already has such a rock-steady discography to stand on is a testament to how clearly locked in this band was on their vision, one that managed to feel deep but with its hair down at the same time. I’m definitely biased (I listened to ‘Stars’ 120+ times this year), but this band still does not get the credit it’s due for subtly altering the course of rock to come.

She’s out back counting stars

FINALLY. This one's my submission. If you'll indulge me... From the spaceship-breaching-orbit opening of "Little Dipper" to gently floating amongst the stars on "Songs of Farewell and Departure", this album has me. The drum break in "The Pod", the sudden tidal-wave-crash of "Why I Like The Robins". There are so many moments I just absolutely love, and crave, from this record. I realize it's probably not everyone's cup of tea: high-treble metal guitars, over a somewhat-rough singer with a flat affect. It's just always fully worked for me. Hum was a weird "space rock" band who scored a fluke hit on "Stars", and never managed to reach that apex again. They broke up after "Downward Is Heavenward", the record that immediately followed this one, and reformed in the late 2010s to record what is assumedly their final record "Inlet". I love both of those records dearly (and have a passing interest in "Electra 2000", their debut). "Downward" goes a little more experimental while still keeping the flavor, and "Inlet" marks them as Dune-style desert-rocking space travellers come back to rule. Hum has just always clicked completely right with me. I feel like it combines the longing and intensity of emo, the reverb and space of space rock, and the headbanging qualities of metal. Deftones, another favorite (who deserve to be on this list, my word), have extolled this record as well, for the loud-quiet dynamic it brings. Now writing this at the end of 2024, there are a lot of bands who are becoming popular who feel the way I do about this record. It's nice to see, as someone who has loved and preached this record since his teen years. It's music for sad astronauts. Bonus: here's a video of a very-scared looking Hum performing on Conan back in the day. "Stars" sped up to fill a timeslot and four nerdy-looking dudes clearly out of their element, it's just a fantastic performance. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vteNEV1wnEw&pp=ygUPaHVtIHN0YXJzIGNvbmFu Hope you enjoy this record as much as I clearly have.

Wow! What a good recommendation! I have never heard about Hum, so this was a very good surprise. Also, if one of your music videos was featured in Beavis and Butthead, I will give you extra credits for that.

I did myself a disservice for years by ignoring Hum because I didn't think Stars was particularly good so I never went any further. It turns out they have quite a bit of good material (I'm actually more fond of their last album) but this one is definitely good. I've even grown to like Stars a bit more than I used to. A really solid album, definitely worth your time if you like the genre.

Haven’t heard of this group before. It’s a bit surprising since I went through a 90s grunge phase. At the outset I wasn’t thrilled with the distortion even though I liked a lot of similar bands in the 90s. I started giving them a closer listen when they briefly turned off the distortion at the end of The Pod and noticed how much I liked that guitar part. The song Stars also deserves the attention it got… great song! I probably have heard it before. I ended up liking this although it took a little while before I could reactivate my grunge-appreciation-circuits and settle in to enjoy this. Even though the window on this genre closed for me years ago and I’m not sure I’m in the market for new grunge experiences, I do see the attraction here. Several songs appealed right away, and I suspect if I listened to this several more times I’d appreciate it more. I started to get into the mellow long ending provided by Songs of Farewell and Departure too. Rounding my rating up a little for the awesome cover art. That’s something I’d hang on the wall, and I was also glad to catch the zebra reference in Suicide Machine. Well played, Hum!

This was fine but to me sounded like a whole lot of post-punk/hardcore fare (Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and so forth) without adding much anything new.

Very much of its time. Whininess and all.

Good album

This album isn't on Spotify, but they have albums from 93 and 98 available. So I'll listen to them instead. My guess is that the 93 album will be underground and heavy, the 98 album will be soft as shit, and I'm just going to assume the 95 album was transitional. That's how 90s bands worked, these guys will be no different. The 1993 album is really cool. Sounded like helmet. That "not metal, not grunge, not punk, but kinda like all three" sound. There's heaviness, there's a bit of groove, there's an indie vibe. I really rate this, and will listen again for sure. The 1998 album is a bit softer, but we're not talking pitchshifter levels of change. Not as interesting as the earlier album though. I can hear more Nirvana in this one, oddly. Based on this, I can say that this green album was probably grungy, reasonably catchy. Overall this is getting a 4/5. Best rating I've ever given an album I didn't listen to lol.

I’m beginning to see a trend of 90s alt rock type stuff like this in the used albums which makes me think that this user base is skewed toward hipster millenials and pretentious music redditors. Don’t get me wrong this music is good but the overrrepresentation of user picks is definitely insightful.

There's a certain type of guitar sound that I have a really visceral, negative reaction to, and this is it. It's that heavy, muddy sound. I don't know why, but I just don't like it. Some of the songs were pretty good though, especially the last one. 3 stars.

I don't normally like this style of music but this was pretty decent

It's got a Smashing Pumpkins overlaid and overdriven guitar sound alongside fairly normal full throated rock bellowing. It's ok.

A very good if not generic accounting of the alternative rock scene in the mid-90s. I can't say any of this really defies expectations or impressed upon me very strongly. But, I first *discovered* music in the mid-90s, and so this is all very nostalgic for me, even if the album itself is new. Don't love don't hate, is what I'm saying.

Great record in a genre that I really like. Big fuzzy guitars building on top of each other. I have other bands from the same genre that I typically pick over Hum, but now and then I do like to revisit their catalogue.

Somehow I managed to miss this when it came out, but I enjoyed it a lot today. Great sound. Seemingly murky on the surface, but with some nice nuanced guitar work and strategic uses of noise. Will definitely be spending more time with this one. Fave Songs: Stars, Songs of Farewell and Departure, Why I Like the Robins, I Hate It Too, Suicide Machine, Little Dipper

Never heard this album before but it felt like a light grunge alt rock album. The instrumentals were decent and had some hardcore moments but all in all wasn’t the full grunge sound. The drawback was none of the songs really stood out to me and got me rocking along. It was always toeing the line of real good that never really got there. 6.5/10

Ok rock album, nothing special.

At first it seemed promising, as it really sounded like rock, however as the tracks progressed it fell flat for me, it didn't achieve intensity and the music dominated over the vocals making it diffuse and causing it to pass without pain or glory.

Post-hardcore, space rock, alternative rock, shoegaze. Rollo. Un 2.

Eh, not bad, not special either. Reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins. I get the appeal, but it didn't do much for me. Favorite tracks: Little Dipper, Stars. Album art: Mostly green with a zebra in the foreground. About as interesting as the music. 2.5/5

I struggled to enjoy this album, but other times I got caught up in it. I am, however, a huge fan of them putting the runtime on the album cover. But yes, I would prefer an astronaut.

It just trundled past for me. Nothing offended me, but equally, I remember nothing about it 12 hours on.

Not for me 👎🏻

2 1

I sometimes don't mind a lo-fi album, but this just sounds super sludgy and badly recorded. It's like listening to Dinosaur Jr. through a potato. Rating: 1.5 Playlist track: Stars Date listened: 29/09/24