Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut

180-gram 45 RPM gatefold double LP

Champaign, Illinois band Hum is reissuing its four-album catalog (Electra 2000, You'd Prefer An Astronaut, Downward Is Heavenward, Inlet). The band members oversaw every step of the re-mastering, lacquer cutting, and manufacturing stages while working with original designer Andy Mueller/OhioGirl in updating the artwork. All records manufactured at RTI in California.

Hum are Jeff Dipsey, bass and vocals; Tim Lash, guitar, vocals and voices; Bryan St. Pere, drums and vocals; and Matt Talbott, guitar and vocals.

Hum's sonic universe is a solipsistic world that exists on it's own terms, a maelstrom of sensations and colors, a thick metallic vortex of fuzztoned guitars with a silent core at the center like the eye of a hurricane — equal parts homegrown and high-tech. Hum serves up a cacophony of overlapping harmonics and dense shards of electric guitars providing a counterpoint to Matt Talbott's reflective tales. You'd Prefer An Astronaut is the Champaign, IL post-hardcore group's third studio album. The nine-song set was first released in 1995 by RCA Records and serves as the band's major label debut following the independently issued Fillet Show (1991) and Electra 2000 (1993). The album hit the No. 1 slot on Billboard's Heatseekers chart thanks to the breakout lead single, "Stars" which exploded on radio, leading to subsequent tours with The Smashing Pumpkins and Bush.