*** Hum

DOWNWARD IS HEAVENWARD

(RCA)

Making loud, heavy music with electric guitars and drums isn't an original career choice these days, but Hum do it pretty well. True, these 10 songs do recall the work of other groups plowing nearby stylistic fields -- Superchunk, Helmet, and especially the Poster Children, for whom Hum bassist Jeff Dimpsey used to play guitar. Yet Hum display a certain artfulness, and they know better than to lapse into endless grunge. When they're not flattening you with layer upon layer of distortion, they keep you on your toes by playing with texture (the nifty interlocking guitar lines of "Dreamboat," or the touches of acoustic on "Ms. Lazarus") and rhythm (just about every cut features several added and/or skipped beats, perhaps the best example being the jerky stop-and-start chorus of "Comin' Home"). Matt Talbott's singing is less exciting than his guitar playing but it's serviceable. There's nothing here as immediately arresting as "Stars," off their previous release, 1995's You'd Prefer an Astronaut, though "If You Are To Bloom" comes close. But this is a more consistent album -- their best so far.

-- Mac Randall