“Stars” by Hum

"Stars" was the second single from You'd Prefer an Astronaut, Hum's 1995 album for RCA, though the song itself was older than the deal: Matt Talbott, Jeff Dimpsey, Tim Lash and Bryan St. Pere had written it years before the label came calling. They produced it with Keith Cleversley, who also recorded and mixed it.

It works the Pixies' quiet-loud trick but stretches it toward outer space: a hush, then a wall of fuzz that critics likened to Dinosaur Jr.'s pummel crossed with the dreamy haze of My Bloody Valentine and Lush. Talbott sings as if from a great distance, and that coolness keeps the ache from tipping into mush while the guitars crash down around him. It climbed to 11 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.