The Hoosiers – The Illusion Of Safety

After the energetic mix that was The Hoosiers number one debut album, The Trick to Life, one would expect the follow up to be a heady mix of familiar sounds and novel chorus lines. The first track and single of the new album, Choices, sounds much like the band we favoured first time around. The fast paced pop song has a tinge of boy band escapades about it similar to Worst Case Scenario and Goodbye Mr A.  However, this is where the comparisons between the two albums seem to diminish.

The band has claimed the second album is a full pop album with an electro influence. Certain tracks including Devil’s in the Detail and Little Brutes, have a gloomy undertone, which emphasise a move away from the buoyant generic pop tracks we have come to expect. The lyrics are solemn and show an appealing side to the bands talent. The edginess of these songs casts a predicament over the pop element of this album, but is a welcome addition.

The second single to be released, Unlikely Hero, returns to the electro symphonise we would expect from this album. The lyrical content of this song is rather undemanding and banal, “I like everybody, but not everybody likes me”, this will no doubt be echoing around the school bus in the near future.

It’s hard to take this album seriously; trying hard to be different, the album falls somewhere between cliché boy band and the classic emotional alternative genre. The emotional tones which come through on a selection of tracks are not strong enough to establish the band in this genre.  This is a decent effort, and an interesting insight into what the band can offer, but what they do best are irritatingly beguiling pop songs, and it seems this album lacks that element of familiarity.

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