Possible Humans 
A truly underrated record from the ranks of the 2010s, Possible Humans debut for Hobbies Galore / Trouble In Mind was a tangled indie treasure that tipped to the 80s/‘90s guitar axis without ever feeling precious with their nostalgia. The band returned without warning at the end of last week, a gift for the 2025 rolls that arrives as a proper sequel to that debut. From the opening strains of Standing Around Alive, the band is still wound in the webs of Feelies and R.E.M., still slipping in the suds of The Clean and as the record opens back up towards more battered ends, still flirting with some of Dino Jr.’s cleaner moments and Volcano Suns’ dirtier ones. Like the debut, the record doesn’t seem satisfied with staying in one place, swerving through the ranks of the Homestead hit parade and the lesser loved ends of the IRS stable.
The guitar is the grounding voice here, sinewy and strummed on opener “Slouching Hat,” gnarled and knotted by the time they shift towards “Dream of Time,” and torn at the seams as they tumble down towards “Claws In” and closer “Akimbo.” There have been quite a few top drawer indie sluggers in 2025, but it might be fair to say that not many have been as succinctly sure of themselves as Standing Around Alive. Like the debut, the record is still hung on a seething tension that bubbles under their taut hooks and hummable harmonies. Riffs restrain themselves, but it’s hard not to feel the strain of steam build below the surface, a turbulence that’s always looming, grinding its teeth in time to the pinch of routine and rut.
Shirking the usual build up and practiced parceling of the press cycle, Hobbies Galore let the listener dive in without guard rails, knowing full well that the album hits hardest as a full package. Six years is enough to let causal fans stray and diehards begin to give up hope, but the band makes it clear that patience pays off, and not a minute is wasted on the new record. The truly sad circumstances of the return of Possible Humans as it dovetails with the dissolution of Trouble In Mind is that it intensifies the probability of this one getting lost in the tumble towards wrapping up the year that seems to happen earlier and earlier all the time. It’s a highlight of 2025 that bears an uphill struggle for those without a tight eye on the Aussie indie set. Don’t let it slip away, Standing Around Alive has all the hallmarks of an essential that’ll stand the test of time.
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