Hum

Hum are a four-piece shoegaze/alternative rock band from Champaign, Illinois that formed in 1989 and disbanded in 2000. Since then, they've reunited sporadically for short tours and festival appearances, first in 2003, then 2011, and 2015, with a surprise new album dropping 2020. Their long-time drummer Bryan St. Pere unfortunately passed away in 2021, and they've been inactive until recently, with a new festival appearance slated for 2026 (Slide Away Festival with Nothing and Chapterhouse). 

The band blends heavy, noisy riffs with spacier, dronier tones and dynamic vocals that move between melodic singing and throatier shouting with cosmic lyricism. Imagine the layered, textured effects-laden atmosphere of shoegaze with the off-kilter, energetic propulsion post-hardcore. Their general gist is basically Dinosaur Jr., Quicksand, The Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, and Slint all thrown in a blender, merging these seemingly disparate, contrasting sources to form their own distinctly idiosyncratic wall of sound that never sacrifices breathable clarity. Besides a minor hit with "Stars" off their major-label debut and quintessential release You'd Prefer An Astronaut (as part of the post-Nevermind alt rock boom of the 90's), they've never quite gotten the recognition they deserve, especially considering how influential they turned out to be in the years since their initial tenure. Deftones have namedropped them explicitly as a major source of inspiration, and their DNA can be heard across a vast array of other bands, including Cloakroom, Narrow Head, Nothing, Superheaven, Cave In, Glassjaw, Deafheaven, and Title Fight.

As previously mentioned, You'd Prefer An Astronaut is generally regarded as their best and most popular effort, so if you're looking for a starting point that's it. Downward Is Heaven is the natural next step as its direct follow-up. I would then go to their reunion album Inlet, which is a very commendable, massive-sounding effort that I made the mistake of sleeping on the year it was released, though Electra 2000 is a nice, rawer, and grungier counterpart to it. Hum are one of those bands I've been meaning to get to forever, so despite this year being a record-low for inactivity, saying we closed it out by crossing this monumental group of the list is an accomplishment in and of itself. Enjoy.

Kissing Me Is Like Kissing An Angel (She Said) (1990)
1. Time Is Melting

2. Kissing Me

3. Jesus Wants You

4. Diamonds

5. Will

Fillet Show (1991)

1. Space Fuck

2. Formaldehyde

3. Detassler

4. Staring At The Sun

5. Hortense

6. Kind Of Night

7. Lip Saga

8. I Like It

9. Pocket

Hello Kitty (1992)

1. Hello Kitty

2. Roar, I'm A Tiger

Sundress (1992)

1. Sundress

2. Time Is Melting

Electra 2000 (1993)

1. Iron Clad Lou

2. Pinch & Roll

3. Shovel

4. Pewter

5. Scraper

6. Firehead

7. Sundress

8. Double Dip

9. Winder

10. Untitled

You'd Prefer An Astronaut (1995)

1. Little Dipper

2. The Pod

3. Stars

4. Suicide Machine

5. The Very Old Man

6. Why I Like The Robins

7. I'd Like Your Hair Long

8. I Hate It Too

9. Songs Of Farewell And Departure

Stars (1995)

1. Stars (Album Version)

2. Boy With Stick

3. Baby, Baby

4. Stars (Edit)

Comin' Home b/w Puppets (1997)

1. Comin' Home

2. Puppets

Downward Is Heavenward (1998)

1. Isle Of The Cheetah

2. Comin' Home

3. If You Are To Bloom

4. Ms. Lazarus

5. Afternoon With The Axolotls

6. Green To Me

7. Dreamboat

8. The Inuit Promise

9. Apollo

10. The Scientists

Inlet (2020)

1. Waves

2. In The Den

3. Desert Rambler

4. Step Into You

5. The Summoning

6. Cloud City

7. Folding

8. Shapeshifter

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