via//chicago

np: "I'd Like Your Hair Long" - Hum

Yeah, Hum. As in one of the best space rock bands to ever come out of Champaign-Urbana. A band that managed to ride the alt-rock zeitgeist to one-hit wonder status, followed that up with their best album yet... and sadly faded into relative obscurity. Those of you over the age of 25 might remember them for the minor MTV hit "Stars", while the younger of you would only know that song from the recent Cadillac commercial. Which is a huge shame, because they certainly deserve a much better legacy than a luxury car commercial.

Why do I bring this up? Because, after eight long years, the band has reformed again... for at least one show anyway. Not sure exactly what line-up will be taking part as of yet, but the band will be headlining a New Year's Eve show at the Double Door here in Chicago. (EDIT: And... yup, already sold out) This is good news for the hardcore fans (of which there are plenty!) and the younger kids who never got to witness one of their flat-out amazing live shows.

I can say this because I was fortunate enough to catch them live plenty of times back when they were regulars on the C-U scene just before (and slightly after) they blew up in the middle of the decade. I remember one show, in particular, at which Hum headlined a full day of local bands performing in a nearby park. Hum went on last, as full dark descended, and blew everyone away. Matt Talbott and Tim Lash sent their guitars soaring into the night sky while Bryan St. Pere kept everyone firmly attached to the ground with his monstrous drum sound. Hyperbole? Maybe, but this was one of those transcendent shows that came at exactly the right time for me. I was an undergrad at University of Illinois, getting into music in a big way and breaking out of the relatively shy and nerdy shell I wore for most of high school. Hum was the first band I "discovered" on my own and with them being local guys, I felt a really strong connection to them. So watching them put on a huge hometown show in front of a loyal crowd was really exciting for me. One of my favorite live memories.

Sadly their star (pardon the pun) burned brightly but died out slowly. A superb follow-up, Downward is Heavenward, to their breakthrough album came and went, but without an obvious single like "Stars", it never got the promotion it deserved. Not many seemed to hear and write/rave about it, but those who did thought it was a fantastic album. We all kinda figured people would come around. Unfortunately a string of bad fortune came their way (surprisingly thorough history on their wikipedia page), culminating in their break-up in late 2000.

Later projects came and went - National Skyline, Centaur, Glifted - and while some great music came out of them, none really resonated as strongly with me as Hum did. We've all had them and, for a long time, Hum was one of "my" bands. I wore their green/white star logo t-shirt all over campus. I put "Stars", "Iron Clad Lou" and "The Pod" on countless mixtapes. I cheered the first time I saw the video on MTV. And, despite swearing I'd never get all that bent out of shape about a band licensing a song for a commercial to get some well-deserved dough, I died a little inside when I saw that Cadillac commercial.

So, in honor of the reunion show (which it looks like I won't be seeing, damn small capacity Double Door) and a fantastic band - here's a couple tunes you need to hear. Be aware that some of these are probably a little quieter than most of the other songs on your iPod, mainly because I'm pulling them from original discs back from when they were mastered a little more quietly.

Hum - "Stars" (taken from You'd Prefer An Astronaut)
Hum - "Afternoon with the Axolotls" (taken from Downward is Heavenward)
Hum - "Iron Clad Lou" (taken from Electra 2000)
Hum - "I'd Like Your Hair Long" (taken from You'd Prefer An Astronaut)
Hum - "Dreamboat" (taken from Downward is Heavenward)