The Hoosiers - 'Worried About Ray'
Oh man it must really HURT to be cool these days. You spend weeks...months...YEARS cultivating the perfect musical taste, the perfect clothes, the perfect stance, the perfect fringe, everything. You are perfectly colour co-ordinated at every moment of every day (so long as the colours in question are black, white or red, obv) and you just KNOW which bands are 'real' and which ones are just 'faking it' for the 'mass market'. And then suddenly that dratted beast 'popular culture' comes along, with its 'guilty pleasures', and 'naff-retro' and 'new old' malarkey, and before you know what's what you're buying bad day-glo tracksuits, listening to the Feeling and growing an ironic moustache...yes, even the boys!
So when a song comes along which has the same pounding rhythm as 'She's My Man' by the Scissor Sisters (or 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John, depending how old you are), a full-set-o'falsetto harmonies like what Mika does, and some of the melodic ideas which were last heard in 'Happy Together' by the Turtles (or Jason Donovan. Again, age is a factor here), surely this is an automatic tramp's sock of uncool?
Well yes. But then doesn't that make it kinda cool? Surely by slinging together a lot of incredibly uncool things (the band themselves aren't brilliant dressers either, truth be told), the Hoosies, as people really should be calling them by now, have developed some kind of outsider status?
Granted, it's not the kind of outsider status cool people like to tell everyone that they have. I mean nerds have outsider status, ugly people have outsider status, people with disabilities have outsider status, but you don't see anyone claiming them as the taste-making leaders of modern culture, do you?
So, where does this leave a song like this? A song which is happier than it should be, more polished than it should be, cleverer than it should be, sparkier than it should be and features a band who dress in the dark and who take their presonal grooming tips from 'Anchorman', rather than 'Zoolander'....
Oh who cares what cool people think? They're too cool to care what you think about them anyway, and they're usually wrong. This song is THE BRILLIANT!
NOTE FOR THE CRIBS: THIS is how you do special effects for your video, 'kay?
NOTE FOR EVERYONE ELSE: Irrespective of who the song is about, the 'Ray' the video is hinting at is undoubtably Ray Harryhausen. And if you don't know who HE is...you should.
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 25th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
Let's face it, not being trendy does not necesserily mean you're not cool! This song is fab, I love it but it's not really fitting into the trend is it? Who cares?
And by the way, The Feeling aren't trendy but to me they're one of the coolest bands around at the moment!
Very good song, sticks in your head and is nice and simple. Video is good as well, is funny, and makes sense. Like it!
I agree Jamesy. I love the video! AWESOME!!!
The hoosiers are REALLY GOOD!!
saw them the other week and they are sooo much better live
really friendly and proper fun gig
love em
This is really groovy! But they have probably borrowed their Grandad's Swinging 60's clothes for the vid :D which is mint by the way
i love da video. sittin in da house and flickin through the channels 2 c if it comes on. also wanna say hi to my m8s who r readin this. please can you read this email on radio 1 and if u can can u also play the pigeon detectives or kasabien or hard-fi please. also say hi to my mum @ da inland revenue workin. hahaha!!!
whos ray?!?!?!