humbug

90s Perth indie rock stalwarts humbug announce the release of a premium double vinyl expanded edition of 2002’s Midheaven, remastered exclusively for the format by Melbourne maestro Adam Casey (The True Vine Productions). From 1994 to 2002 humbug played hundreds of live shows in Perth and across the nation, with Underground Lovers, Ammonia, Jebediah, The Clouds, Magic Dirt, John Butler, Even, Bluebottle Kiss, Drop City, Big Heavy Stuff, Effigy, Turnstyle, The Welcome Mat and more. The new LP captures the range of the band’s layered, ambitious guitarscapes better than ever, exuding a textured warmth and saluting their shoegaze/alt-rock roots in hi-fi style. humbug’s sound is best described as intelligent, melodic indie rock: the interwoven ‘guitarchitecture’ of Clemson and Acciano, bolstered by the lock-tight rhythms of bassist Johnstone and drummer Jewell and overlaid with Johnstone’s soaring vocals. Music writer Shane Starling perhaps put it best: “Humbug want to drink the hot blood of beauty, ok?” humbug released two EPs – 1996’s Swinger’s Ball and 1997’s Palafico (featuring crowd favourite ‘First Flight’) – on Melbourne’s Rubber Records, to local plaudits. Thereafter they decamped to a remote farmhouse with engineer Jim Scott, to realise the dream of a self-produced album. A trip to London in 2000 to scout a UK deal and overdubs with Andy Wilkinson (Boo Radleys, Stereolab) came to naught, so the band rolled up their sleeves and completed the task themselves, releasing Midheaven independently in 2002. Other careers beckoned and so the band split amicably, leaving unfinished business… So why now? Having been invited to play at RTRFM’s 30th anniversary of In The Pines in April 2023, the band is seizing the opportunity to revisit its best release. Vocalist Ryan Johnstone explains: “humbug went out on a high with ‘Midheaven’. It was our very best recorded work. “So when the opportunity arose to combine celebrating an impressive RTR anniversary with our ambition to see Midheaven released on The One True Format… we said hell yes.”