If You Are To Bloom – Hum (from Downward is Heavenward)
Big crunching guitars, a nice little groove, and a series of deft little touches on the side. It comes out of the same Chicago tradition of layered guitars and noise that gave us the early Smashing Pumpkins. But where Corgan and co. went toward the pop and glam worlds, Hum just churned out big old space rock.
Despite growing up in the 90s, I was never really a 90s music kid. My first (and truest) musical love was the 60s, and it took me until high school to acknowledge that the music of my own generation was really worthwhile. At that point, the height of ‘alternative’ had already passed.
But in some ways, that was actually kind of a blessing. It meant that I didn’t get burned out on all the knockoffs. Which meant I was able to come to bands like Hum with somewhat fresh ears. And well, they really knocked it out of the park.