Thoughts on hum?

Coming to Hum from shoegaze, I was disappointed. I was hoping for America's answer to MBV or Ride--turns out lovesliescrushing was the former, and I'm still looking for the latter (tell me if you've found it, and yes, I've already heard Drop Nineteens--wasn't impressed). In any case I always thought the songs were a little too weak to support the tinny, indie-metal guitars, but I don't want to write them off completely by any means, having not heard enough of them to speak from any real experience.

Check out ex-Hum guitarist's project Glifted too. More of those heavy fucking guitars,much less pop.

Quite an underrated band indeed.. Those vocals are sometimes a rather grating, though.

"Downward is Heavenward" is the bomb. Especially the 1st and last tracks. That guitar sound is out of this world, like Siamese Dream times 10.

-- fizzcaraldo (Justin M), Tuesday, September 27, 2005 4:23 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Ah yes...I just heard "Isle of the Cheetah" on shuffle and was all, "FUCK...those guitars, my god." Great guitar sound on that last album; the production on the previous one is disappointing, but Downward Is Heavenward fixed all that...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoeMHoVnjWo

90s hot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hum_(band)

[went through a second drummer before overhearing Bryan St. Pere playing along to a Rush record out of his apartment window and recruiting him.

lol yeah they did

compared to pumpkins or rush who kinda display the drumming more prominently in the mix, hum drums are kinda understated. equally outstanding but easier to overlook.

It looks like the band (and especially one band member, although I'm not sure which one) is angry that an independent vinyl reissuing company re-released You'd Prefer An Astronaut (priced around $30) without any involvement from the band themselves. And so one of the band members set up a store from his house, taking orders and slowly shipping original 90's pressings (worth over $100) for the same price.

If you are to bloom is a great track

I wonder if history might have panned out a little differently for them if the label had opted for "If You Are to Bloom" or "Green to Me" as the first single from DIH instead of "Comin' Home"

anyway I'm listening to You'd Prefer an Astronaut for the first time in forever and it just sounds so good

also I just figured out that the various editions of the art for Deftones' White Pony pay tribute to both Downward is Heavenward and Astronaut.

this concludes my recent Hum findings

it's ridiculous how much Hum sounds like Smashing Pumpkins, with the exception of vocals.

on Stars maybe but I don't really think the rest of the songs on You'd Prefer an Astronaut are that reminiscent

I'm listening to You'd Prefer an Astronaut after like 20 years, and I immediately said-- "holy shit, this sounds just like Smashing Pumpkins." And my wife heard me, and said, "Oh, it's not?"

It's the guitar tone. It's just like Siamese Dream. Listen to the opening track, for example. It sounds insanely similar to "Mayonaise," tonewise AND chordwise.

And I randomly played a few tracks of Downward is Heaven and I could easily see being convinced it was SP if the vocals were taken out, though the drumming might be a clue that it's not.

Soundwise/tonally they existed in a weird Gish/Siamese Dream interzone for sure, albeit with a little more of a metallic kick. The songwriting was not that similar though.

I discovered Hum way after the event.
Really don't know how I missed them.
Great sounds imho

Downward is Heavenward at least is great despite whether it conjures Smashing Pumpkins or not.

I know a couple of big Hum fans, and they have some acute narcissism of small differences about how much the band sounds like Smashing Pumpkins.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK HUM ARE SPECIAL

Sooooo guess what.

http://substreammagazine.com/2015/03/space-rock-pioneers-hum-to-reunite-at-south-by-southwest-for-free-event/

well this happened last year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E-FMeT6rSo

Ah, I had missed that!

Yeah, they've played together a handful of times over the years, but still very cool. Fond memories of them headlining a free outdoor concert in Urbana right as "Stars" was blowing up for them, great show.

Also lol at when Bush played Champaign in 1995 and Gavin Rossdale wore a Hum shirt.

haha! my friend said she went to that show in 1995. She was staying at a hotel and was waiting in the lobby for her friend when Gavin came down and sat near her, striking up a conversation. He eventually took his shirt off, natch

Hey, 1995 me thought 1995 Gavin was super hot, so fair play. But a bit weird in a hotel lobby.

That was the same show where Gwen Stefani told me she loved me and dumped a water bottle on my head.

i remember thinking at the time that i could have predicted that ending before she even told me. lawllll

these two albums are long overdue for a deluxe remaster type deal

also, heard the new Torche today and I bet those guys have spent some time listening to Hum

This thread got me thinking about this band again and in doing a little research found out that there were two albums released before YPAA. Never knew this! Anyone heard these? Worth seeking out?

yeah "electra 2000" rules

i liked it okay in that era but over time it was one of the ones i sold back in some one of many waves of cd hoard purging (keeping 'astronaut' and 'downward'), must have just never felt like playing it for years

also search the "Puppets"/"Aphids" single.

NEW HUM ALBUM https://humband.bandcamp.com/releases

woah

i mean the cover is rainbow bridge so i'm gonna fuck with this

this is such an awesome unexpected gift

i cried a little at the guitar tone

Fantastic news! Trying to decide if I can hold out for the physical version in September. Very doubtful.

Still one of the best shows I saw in college was when these guys headlined an outdoor festival at West Side Park in Champaign in 1996.

i cried a little at the guitar tone

Okay, yep, not gonna be able to hold out.

WHATTTT

WHOA ?!?!?!?!

I'm so excited about this that I can't decide how best to listen to it!!

Man the excitement over this album faded really fast, disappointing as I still think it's one of the year's best.

Anyway, just got the notice that my CD pre-order shipped.

def my favorite hum album at this point

still listening quite a bit.

DiH is still tops for me (there's no beating that ornate production), but Inlet ain't much of a step down.

I want the LP but it's so pricey

Hasn’t faded for me!! <3

Me either, it's one of the best things this year and I've listened to it a ton.

no fade over here.

Excellent! Glad folks are still as excited. I’ve given myself a break from it until my copy shows up, want to recapture a little of that fresh magic from the surprise drop.

Yeah, no fade here either! It's not a record that invites a lot of ~discourse~ but that's good not bad imo.

It is interesting how they bowed out presenting as rock and returned presenting as metal imo

It still sounds like loud rock Hum to me but like, same band different era. I think Centaur and Matt's 2010s production work hinted they were gonna lean in this direction.

looking forwarding to getting the CD

My CD showed up today and, look, I'm not going to complain at all about having new Hum in my life but I gotta be honest, the CD packaging is underwhelming to say the least. Guess I shoulda sprung for the vinyl version.

It's one of those barest of bare bones cardboard sleeves, no liner notes, no lyrics. Just one photo of a forest (I think) from above on the fold-out. The credits, such as they are, are just what fits under the song titles on the back cover.

Not trying to be negative, I still love this album to death and glad I got my copy.

This is definitely one of my AOTYs. I agree with imago it is interesting how they "returned presenting as metal," which I think has more to do with the times than with the band. The idea of a band belonging firstmost to "rock" without other qualifiers (indie, post-, classic, etc.) no longer exists in the popular imagination. I feel like the last band to embody that concept was...The White Stripes, maybe? Perhaps that's another thread.

Oh yeah, this is still running as one of my favorite three albums of the year and still has a decent shot at the top spot.

The idea of a band belonging firstmost to "rock" without other qualifiers (indie, post-, classic, etc.) no longer exists in the popular imagination. I feel like the last band to embody that concept was...The White Stripes, maybe?

Still agree with this idea in general. I mean why would Hum want to get lumped in with Greta Van Fleet?

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I wouldn't call Inlet metal at all really. The main difference in sound between it and previous records is in the production, which is to my ear deeper, bassier, more booming.

its kinda like a whole album of the side of deftones i like the most so i can see how it fits in as 'alt metal'

I guess there's some elements of doom-metal or stoner-metal but it's definitely a rock album.

Blinker The Star is back

https://blinkerthestar.bandcamp.com/album/juvenile-universe

I'm hearing more doom-metal layers now revisiting this on vinyl. Plus a few moments on the Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou are blending in my head with the riffs in "The Summoning."

I though this was great news:

pic.twitter.com/w97pAQf5Fs

— HUM (@humbandofficial) January 20, 2021

is Electra 2000 good?

I like it a lot, but I was also in Champaign when these guys were at the time so my feelings on it are inextricably tied to seeing them live. It's definitely more angry and less refined then they'd get, but still a lot of the hallmarks were falling into place.

Electra 2000 is worth it for "Diffuse" alone imo

(nb the other songs are v good too but that one, for me, is an essential track by the band… "Double Dip" could be another)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwyQMiMG41E

their last performance before Inlet was released, I guess?

really wish they'd do some kind of livestream, I would love a decently produced inlet album show with visuals etc

Sad news https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=349853279833118&id=100044253468466

Utterly awful.

Ugh, that's horrible.

RIP

:(((((((

one of my favorite rock drummers ever

Absolutely gutted to hear this. A tremendous loss that would be heartbreaking at any time, but feels even more difficult after the success and hype around Inlet. 2021 was shaping up to be a fantastic year for Hum.

well said, jon. RIP

RIP, damn

It's kinda fitting they found him as a drummer by hearing him play along to Rush through a window. Their rekkid last year was my fave of the year. His drumming was so inventive & serviced the songs so well. Really bummed about this. Cranking 'Downward' tonight.

Sad news. He was a hard hitter but still had the touch and the groove. Rip

ffs that's terrible. such an interesting drummer who really shaped the sound of that band.

this band is . . . indebted to hum. which is fine with me

https://millymusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-ring

Sorry, this is shameless. Almost admirable in its devotion to not having a single original idea

Yeah. I gave it a chance, but it ended up just on the wrong side of annoying

I like Milly!

https://open.spotify.com/track/0kyK9b2bC3INVSZza9kq2o?si=hZFfnLdHSkKSCCAVYELm7w

Love the harmonics. Such riffage

https://i.imgur.com/NTJiN7X.jpg

Goddamn this band.

Working my way through the post-Fillet Show discography today and just, wow. I'd argue three perfect albums in a row with Astronaut > Downward > Inlet.

I still can't believe how good Inlet is, especially after such a long break (decades!). I need to remember this the next time we have a poll about great late-period / comeback albums

I bought a Hum hoodie from Matt Talbot's distro and it came in a box with an Airheads candy in it. Then I looked at the Hum Starsposting FB group and learned that he does that with all orders.

“Waves” has some dope mbv vibes