No.85 - ‘The Trick To Life’ by The Hoosiers (2007)

“Everything you love turns to dust; You'd make more of it but you felt rushed, By all that's periphery; You held tight, but on the contrary; The trick to life is not to get too attached to it…”

Whenever I mention The Hoosiers to colleagues, they haven’t a clue who I’m talking about. Even when singing ‘Worried About Ray’, I’m greeted by blank faces. When their debut album was released, two songs in particular were played all over popular radio. Then after a year or so they faded a little into obscurity, apart from a core fanbase. But the name has never escaped me and ‘The Trick To Life’ remains a favourite.

There is so much joy in these songs. Musically, the big numbers are full of bounce, which give them an almost 1920s/30s vibe, and the so called “album fillers” are just as catchy, well crafted and brilliantly written songs. Adding a nice measure of background brass and keys to the band and we have a very pleasing sound.

It’s rare that many bands who break into the UK indie rock market stand out. Many are clones of the great Manchester bands, taking parts of the Brit-pop movement, with generally repetitive sounding songs. But there are a few, some whom feature in this list, that give my ears that extra excitement. I don't often buy Indie rock albums when released, but The Hoosiers were so unique in their sound that they stood out amongst the rest. The likes of ‘Goodbye Mr A’ and ‘Cops Robbers’ sounded so good amongst some of the mundane songs being repeatedly played. This album was purchased straight away and, thankfully, the rest of the songs didn’t disappoint.

The Hoosiers formed in Indiana in 2003, but are based in England. The ‘Trick to Life’ reached No.1 in the UK album charts, after which the band went down a more synth based sound. I was very happy to see them perform an intimate gig at the Islington Academy a few years ago. They were excellent! The album has been released on vinyl, but is currently not in my collection.

Favourite songs -  The Trick To Life, Goodbye Mr A, Run Rabbit Run







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