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Rating: The Hoosiers are a London-based trio founded in 2003 and composed of Irwin Sparkes, Martin Skarendahl, and Alphonso Sharland.
Riding on the strength of the six hundred thousand copies sold so far in Great Britain of their debut "The Trick To Life," they are also gaining visibility here with two singles like "Worried About Ray," an ironic and fun catchy pop glimpse, and "Goodbye Mr. A," a bouncy mini-anthem indie rock accompanied by a highly successful and entertaining video clip (the track is also included in the soundtrack of the popular video game "Fifa '08"). Among their influences, they cite The Cure, Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips, and XTC.
The Hoosiers, however, are also something else: "The Trick To Life" is a fun debut, well-played, charming enough and rich in remarkable melodic touches, starting with the aforementioned "Worried About Ray," cleverly placed at the opening of the work. The third single "Worst Case Scenario" follows more or less the blueprint of the first two excerpts (as does the title track), but it is enriched with claphands and various effects that make the whole canvas even more rickety.
The slower and more introspective pieces, however, are the weak point of the album, perhaps not well taken care of and penalized by excessive use of falsetto by frontman Sparkes (see "Run Rabbit Run" or "Clinging On For Life"). "A Sadness Runs Through Him," on the other hand, is more successful, perhaps due to its typical Travis-like pace that makes it unique and special in the entire work, while "Cops And Robbers" is a candidate to become yet another smash hit of the band, since it will also be included in a video game (given the subject, this time it will be "GTA 4"). Beautiful and evocative are the atmospheres of "Everything Goes Dark," which builds its base melody on a delicate and harmonic arpeggio, then grows to a finale dominated by a blend of choirs, guitar, and strings.
Regarding the name, Alphonso explains: "A Hoosier is a native of Indiana, the main grain-producing region of the American midwest, the place where we found ourselves again. Many Hoosiers claim the nickname comes from Samuel Hoosier: in 1825 they were nicknamed 'Hoosiers Men' for their qualities of courage and hard work. However, digging a little deeper, it turns out that the name is the distortion of the French translation of 'idler and agitator' and refers to a group of men of dubious morality. The ambiguity of its origins fascinated us, although the latter definition probably suits us better."
Bands that disappeared after one/two/three albums, unfortunately, we've heard of many, especially in Albion's land. We will see if these Hoosiers will be one of the few exceptions.
Key tracks: "A Sadness Runs Through Him," "Cops And Robbers," "Everything Goes Dark"
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Worried About Ray (02:48)
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds
I'm starting to worry about Ray
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds
I'm seriously worried about Ray
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes
I'm starting to worry about Ray
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes
I'm painfully so worried about Ray
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
The future's out to get you
The future's out to get you oh
The future's out to get you
The future's out to get you oh
The truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried what the future holds, the future holds
I'm so tired of being worried about Ray
04 Goodbye Mr A (04:26)
There's a hole in your logic
You who know all the answers, oh oh oh oh
You can sigh and say magic
And expect me to buy it
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew too much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
So busy showing me where I'm wrong
You forgot to switch your feelings on, oh oh oh oh
So so superior, are you not?
You love a little bit but you forgot
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew too much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Goodbye Mr A
Goodbye Mr A
Goodbye Mr A
The world was full of wonder
'Til you opened my eyes
Goodbye Mr A
Wish you hadn't blown my mind
And killed the suprise
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew to much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
05 A Sadness Runs Through Him (03:13)
People are puppets, held together with string.
There's a beautiful sadness that runs through him,
as he asked me to pray to the god he doesn't believe in.
Time and again boys are raised to be men:
impatient they start, fearful at end.
But here was a man mourning tomorrow.
He drank, but finally drown in his sorrow.
He could not break surface tension.
He looked in the wrong place for redemption.
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to anaethatise: turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved:
a sadness runs through him, through him.
Time and again boys are raised to be men:
impatient they start, fearful at end.
But here was a man mourning tomorrow,
who drank, but finally drown in his sorrow
He could not break surface tension.
He looked in the wrong place for redemption.
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to anaethetise;
turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved:
a sadness runs through him, through him.
Don't look...Don't look...Don't...Don't
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to unheave the ties:
turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved, no,
he couldn't be saved: sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him
07 Cops and Robbers (03:58)
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
We're at a revolution
And we're baying for your blood
We're laying down the law
And your name's mud
You'd like to be a member of the human race
You want to be a good boy
But you couldn't stand the taste
Blame Simon
Because he said
You've got two lives down
And one life left
Blame Simon
Because he said
You could think better with a hole in your head
You could think better with a hole in your head
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
Catch a revolution
Now your waging war again
Marching on the spot when you should have made amends
Cause you say you fight for us
Cross your heart and hope to die
You're the bully in the playground and we'll hang you out to dry
Blame Simon
Because he said
You've got two lives down
And one life left
Blame Simon
Because he said
You could think better with a hole in your head
You could think better with a hole in your head
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
Line them up against a wall and shoot them all
Oh oh oh
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
Play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
Play cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
There's nothing you or I can do
Line them up against a wall I'll get a gun and shoot them all
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