"Stars"which was written by Hum bandmembers Matt Talbott, Jeff Dimpsey, Tim Lash, and Bryan St. Perehad been penned by the band years prior to their signing with RCA Records. The single was produced by the band and Keith Cleversley. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the song, along with the other Hum tracks "The Pod" and "I'd Like Your Hair Long", as featuring a "fuzzed-out barrage of guitars suggest a mixture of the pummeling sound of Dinosaur Jr. and the more dreamy soundscapes of Irish or British bands like My Bloody Valentine or Lush." Vox magazine wrote, "Tracks like 'Stars'... are achingly melancholic, but Talbott's detached tone and the crashing outbreak of guitars prevents the from sliding into sentimentalism."
Success
Prior to its being released as an official single, "Stars" received heavy airplay on the Los Angelesradio stationKROQ-FM. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "KROQ jumped on the song so soon that RCA had to rush release the song nationwide, a full month before the scheduled release of single." Hum's drummer Bryan St. Pere credited KROQ with making the song so popular, saying in an interview, "Yeah, I think helped us out the most, because from what I gather, that's the station in the country, and when they decide to add a song, all the other stations kind of follow suit." "Stars" eventually debuted on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart at number 32 during the week of June 3, 1995. The single eventually peaked at number 11 on the aforementioned chart. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Stars" was vital in helping You'd Prefer an Astronaut sell over 250,000 copies. In 2008, it was announced that the song had sold 26,000 digital copies, 29% of which had occurred since September 2007. Billboard magazine later hypothesized that this uptick in sales was due to a Cadillac commercial that used the song. According to Matt Talbott, the frontman of Hum:
People have always said this or that about using our songs in movies or commercials and nothing ever really comes of it. some guy at an ad firm asking about using a song for a commercial I said, 'Yeah, sure, whatever man.' wrote back and told me more, and when I knew it was for real and that it sounded like a large campaign, I called my lawyer.
The commercial was released before the members of Hum were aware that a deal had been agreed upon. According to Talbott, he only learned of its existence when he was at a hotel and the commercial was playing. Suddenly, Talbott received a call from his wife, who informed him that others had seen the ad and were phoning their house.
Music video
A music video was released in 1995 that featured the band performing the song in a darkened basement-like room, interspersed with footage of a man covered in tattoos interacting with candles, a mask, a wall clock and other ephemera.
Legacy
In the Beavis and Butt-head episode, "The Future of Beavis and Butt-head", the duo watch the video and change the channel after the extended chord early on, mistakenly thinking the song is over.
