Centaur – In Streams
(Martians Go Home/Parasol)

Centaur was started by Matt Talbot, the former lead singer of the band HUM. Even though they have countless bootleg recordings floating around, fans are finally treated to a finished studio recording. When I first got my copy of In Streams, I was excited almost to the point of climaxing in my pants. For me this was the closest thing to hearing new Hum material and I was hoping it would fill the void that Hum occupied. So it makes sense for me to hold valid comparisons to Hum. Centaur even used the same producer that was involved with You’d Prefer an Astronaut, the album that elevated Hum’s rocket ship to success.

The majority of the songs are slow and spacey with a dulled down pinch of Hum. Apparently there was a death in Talbot’s family. I’m not sure who it was, but judging by what I’ve read, it was a miscarriage. It makes sense that the mood of the songs are what they are. However many of them don’t stand out. In a nutshell, it’s not at the level I’d hope it would be. Some of the riffs are weak and cheesy and the songs are a bit on the snoozy side. For the most part, In Streams is one of those albums that you start listening to and totally forget about in the short and long run. There are a couple of good tunes that I tend to pop on here and there, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get the cd out. (Yes I’m that lazy, so shut up!)

I’ve listened to this album forcefully quite a few times, in hopes that I would enjoy it on more levels. But my feeling just remains untouched. It hurts me deeply saying these things, kind of like having your balls placed under a vice grip as someone slowly tightens the handle. It’s not the best album, but I wouldn’t say it was the worst either. I give this a 6.6 out of 10 on my ass kick meter even though in this case only about half an ass cheek made contact with the foot. — Chian