EP109 - So What’s Been Happening? - Humble (Stephen Holmes)

EP109 - So What’s Been Happening? - Humble (Stephen Holmes)

Out of the disparate urges of youth and middle age, the Kiama NSW trio formed in March 2022. The result is primitive, literate yet defiant, lyrically abstract yet nostalgic, musically searching, “slouching without, frantic within.” Dad rock, if your Dad is Rob Zombie.

Humble combines the crashing classic rock drums of Ryan King (DE/4D, The Talkers, Dirty Headbangers), the confident and propulsive groove of bassist Darcy Wall (Kaleidoscope, Jayhawks) and the jangling, heartbreaker guitars and direct vocals of Stephen Holmes (DE/4D, Human Auto, Floating Axe Studio). The latter's voice channeling everyone from Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock to Stephen Malkmus and Pere Ubu's David Thomas.

The impressively diverse There's Still Time, released late in 2022, included three singles: ‘Sure Thing’ seethes with lusty, cosmic frustration, filtered through jerky post-punk and primitive rock 'n' roll dynamics. Second single ‘That Don’t Work’ threads the Smiths and the Byrds together with the indie hooks of NZ band Garageland and Madchester jangle folk, while on the album's third single, 'Wasted On Purpose', the song emerges from a dissonant sonic fog, an insistent kick drum driving the song onwards over a post-punk bass melody and Holmes' infectious Malkmus-esque vocal hooks. "An intriguing collection of refined chaos that is as utterly compelling as it is fun. Ranging from the raw delicacy of

The Go-Betweens to the swagger of the New York Dolls, the troubadour musings of Jonathan Richmond to the clattering post punk sounds of The Fall, the genetic influences are many and varied but the delivery is swaggering and assured. 8.3/10 - Backseat Mafia

Join us for a chat LIVE with Stephen Holmes (Humble) from 8.00pm AEDT on Tuesday 10th October on Facebook live and You Tube. Join in the chat anytime.