Day After Day #265: Stars

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Stars (1995)

Every so often a song would come along that I got really into, whether on the radio or MTV or wherever, I would listen to it a ton, but then would sort of forget about it and the artist. That was the case with "Stars" by the Chicago band Hum, which was all over stations like WFNX in the summer of 1995. I dug the song a lot, but never bought the album or followed up in any way and lost track of the band for about 25 years or so.

The band was formed in 1989 by guitarists Andy Switzky and Matt Talbott, bassist Akis Boyatzis and drummer Jeff Kropp. They practiced in Boyatzis' basement for a few months, going through another drummer before adding Bryan St. Pere after hearing him playing along to a Rush album through his apartment window. Hum went through several lineup changes before recording a demo in Steve Albini's basement. 

Switzky was the primary singer, guitarist and songwriter on the group's first album, Fillet Show, which was released on a local indie 12 Inch Records in 1991, straddling the line between punk and metal. After another bassist left, Jeff Dimpsey joined on guitar and Talbott switched to bass. After some creative differences, Switzky quit and the band brought in Tim Lash on guitar. The band went into the studio to record their second album, 1993's Electra 2000, with producer Brad Wood, who had worked on Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. Talbott and Dimpsey switched instruments and Talbott took over lead vocals. 

The album didn't have any singles, but it caught RCA's attention and Hum soon had a major label deal. The band's third album, You'd Prefer an Astronaut, came out in April 1995. Before it was even released, "Stars" was getting heavy airplay on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, causing RCA to release it as a single a month before planned. Soon other stations across the country followed suit.

"Stars" had the loud-quiet-loud dynamics popularized by bands like the Pixies and Nirvana, but it also bore a resemblance to the heavy riff-driven sound of acts like Helmet and Dinosaur Jr. Talbott's affectless vocals start the song almost quietly as the band holds an extended chord.

"She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

Suddenly the band kicks in, almost drowning Talbott out as it pounds out a monster riff.

"She's not at work, she's not at school/She's not in bed, I think I finally broke her/I bring her home everything I want, and nothing she needs/I thought she'd be there holding daisies, she always waits for me/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

Not to be overlooked in the guitar-driven fury is St. Pere's thunderous drumming.

"I found her out back sitting naked looking up and looking dead/A crumpled yellow piece of paper, with seven nines and tens/I thought she'd be there holding daisies, she always waits for me/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

The band even got the "Beavis and Butt-Head" treatment, although the boys grow impatient at the quiet intro and change the channel before the songs starts rocking, which they would have loved.

"Stars" ended up peaking at #11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the album sold 250,000 copies as a result. 

The other singles from the album, "The Pod" and "I'd Like Your Hair Long," didn't produce the same buzz, but Hum toured behind the album into the next year. They released Downward is Heavenward in 1998, getting critical acclaim but failing to generate much interest. Hum was dropped from their contract in 2000 and broke up at the end of that year.

Talbott formed the band Centaur, which released one album. Dimpsey restarted an old side project called National Skyline, while Lash played in the bands Gifted and Balisong.

Hum reunited for a festival show in Alabama in 2003 and afterward played occasional club shows and festivals. In 2007, "Stars" showed up in a Cadillac commercial after Talbott received an email from advertising firm asking about it. The band continued to play sporadically in subsequent years before releasing their fifth album, Inlet, with no fanfare in June 2020. The album, which was strong, got some good notices. 

Sadly, St. Pere died in June 2021 at the age of 53. Hum hasn't officially called it quits, so hopefully they'll release more music someday.