Humble: There's Still Time

Dylanesque - Psychedelic - Proto-Punk

Out of the disparate urges of youth and middle age the Kiama 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.

The crashing classic rock drums of King (DE/4D, the talkers, dirty headbangers), the confident thundering bass of Wall (Kaleidoscope, Jayhawks, etc) with the jangling, heartbreaker guitars and direct vocals of Holmes (DE/4D, Human Auto, Floating Axe Studio) the melodic opening tracks ill prepare you for the sonic onslaught of deeper cuts on ‘There’s Still Time’ - Humble’s debut LP.

‘Sure Thing’ seethes with lusty, cosmic frustration, ‘Minor Notes’ nostalgically revives the sounds of pre-grunge, while ‘You Like it My Way’ knowingly revives romantic ideals. ‘That Don’t Work’ threads the Smiths and the Byrds together, ‘Toes’ takes you beyond the galactic, paranoid blues, whilst ‘First Losers’ examines the subversion of faith in time. ‘Forced Perspective’ playfully moans the death of outrage, ‘Wasted On Purpose’ fizzes with distorted melody, and ‘Hudmoney’ asks Mascis, “what’s it gonna take to get me through it this time”? ‘Frangipani Lane’ relives the Sound As Ever heartbreak of first love, and ‘Infinity Mirror’ visits delusion and self-doubt on its way through a Stooges multiverse. ‘Lens Flare’ bookends the themes of lost love and distant, long dead stars. ‘There’s Still Time’ is at once comforting and challenging, a fresh breeze in a stifling heat. Sometimes direct, other times abstract, always compelling.

Recorded to 2” tape in 2 days with Melbourne veteran Anthony Cornish, full of classic references and musical invention, ‘There’s Still Time’ is presented live by the trio as high energy, wisened but joyfully irreverent rock. Accompanied by infamously diverse covers of Neil Young, Slayer and Nirvana, Humble are serious about the music, but not about themselves.