There And Back Again: A Brief Review Of The Debut Album From Humdrum On Slumberland

From the "Love Vigilantes"-ish swirl of the title cut of this album and into the Sarah Records-referencing "There and Back Again", Chicago's Humdrum know exactly how to set the stage for a record full of pleasures both familiar and new. Every Heaven, out this week on Slumberland Records, announces the thrills of the music of this band to the world. And Humdrum, thankfully, are up to the challenge of finding juice in the jangle-rock form.

"Superbloom" has the rush and radio-friendly vibe of The Railway Children, while "Test of Time" reveals more inspiration taken from New Order, The Field Mice, and even early O.M.D. While there's a lot here that chimes and jangles, big portions of Every Heaven successfully merge that kind of stuff with a New Wave-era sensibility, such that the music of Humdrum manages to easily transcend its obvious influences. "Eternal Blue", a highlight here, marries all of those points of reference in the service of a tune which soars, and yet seems like an intimate confession of sorts. The best material here on this record has that same quality.

Loren Vanderbilt, the whiz behind Humdrum, smartly and deftly channels things he's loved as a listener here. Every Heaven shines with a famililar kind of promise, and the sleek surfaces of the tunes don't diminish the heart within the grooves. As such, this is an album of warm appeal, full of the kind of spirit that made indie seem like a better kind of pop way back when. The compositions of Humdrum deliver a consistent brand of jangle-pop that has an accessiblity about it that's very appealing. It helps too that the songs are all just spectacularly enjoyable.

Every Heaven by Humdrum is out this week on Slumberland Records.

[Photo of Loren Vanderbilt by Dale Price]