Centaur: In Streams

In 1995, Hum’s “Stars” was all over the radio and MTV for about a month. Everyone knows the song, even if they have no idea who played it, and wouldn’t remember it unless they heard it. Hum never did recapture that kind of success, however, as their next album failed to produce an equally catchy single. The band was dropped from RCA Records and disbanded shortly thereafter.

In the last year of Hum’s turbulent existence, singer Matt Talbott’s then side project Centaur emerged. While he took some of the sonic elements from Hum along with him, Talbott’s new band is much more stripped down and sparse. Following two years of writing and touring, Centaur released their debut album, In Streams, in late 2002.

The album fades in for nearly a minute with “Life Begins,” until the acoustic guitar comes in, and it is immediately clear that this is not a Hum album. Hum’s bombastic drum arsenal is replaced by Jim Kelly’s more subdued, calm drumming. Ex-Castor bassist Derek Niedringhaus plays far more complicated basslines, and instead of massive amounts of overdubbed guitars, Talbott’s sound remains simple and slow.

It is also clear that Talbott has retired the sci-fi lyrics of his previous band. The inside of the CD cover is a simple dedication which reads, “To Henry…and his Mother.” Many of the lyrics are a tribute to Talbott’s infant son, who died shortly after he was born, and a testament to the strength of his relationship with his wife, rather than stories about space travel or scientists. The album takes on a somber tone early on, and remains so throughout.

For the most part, Centaur’s approach is very successful. Shimmering, plodding guitar chords lull the listener into a daze while edgier leads add enough contrast to keep the songs interesting. “The Same Place” runs well over seven minutes, while an extended keyboard outro drags the title track just over the 13 minute mark. With a new approach to the instruments comes a different look at songwriting for Talbott and Niedringhaus, whose previous bands tried to stuff as many different themes into a song as possible. “Thimbles,” for example, alternates between the same two chords for over five minutes, while the vocal melody and occasional guitar lead take over the task of differentiating between chorus and verse.

This approach is not always effective, however, as the nearly nine minute “Strangers on 5” sounds like it wants to explode from the effects-laden verse riff, but never does. The song picks up a bit toward the end, but by that time the verse has played so many times that the end sounds more like an afterthought.