Hello, hello, hello! This week, I am writing about a band that I was initially drawn to after discovering their hometown. Hoops is a band originally from Bloomington, IN, home to Indiana University, approximately an hour southeast of Greencastle. Named for the hoop houses at his former workplace in this basketball-crazed state, Hoops started out as a solo project for Drew Auscherman as a teen in 2011 and has since turned into a four-piece dream pop band that spends their nights synthing-out and swapping instruments on stages across the country.
Their latest work, “Tapes #1-3,” was released in early November exclusively on a set of three cassette tapes and online music services. This set of tapes completes the releases of a series of cassettes that started in 2015.
I’ll talk about my feels on each tape in succession. “Tape #1” is filled with deep, droney vocals and basketball-themed track titles. The vocals range from being very forward in the tracks to being drowned out by the heavy instrumentals. Some tracks get lost since they all sound somewhat similar, but one track really stood out to me: “Cool 2.” For this one, you’re going to want to dance, but you’re also going to want to lay down. Their blending of magical notes and jumping rhythm will do that to you. So try to dance horizontally.
“Tape #2” instantly emphasizes the drums and guitar from the start. This set of tracks is their most commercially successful of the tapes so far: tracks “On Top” and “La La La” have surged in popularity, and understandably so. “La La La” is easily my favorite track on this tape, despite its simple, overdone title. The layered vocals and matching guitar hammer the core melody into your brain. This makes for a fun, body-rockin’ tune.
Frankly, by “Tape #3” I had gotten a little bored. Tracks begin to blend together without anything new for the listener to grab onto. There are three tracks on this cassette that keep it from falling into the depths of my memory. “All My Life” has a welcome alteration in the chorus. The vocals are yet again being suffocated by the powerful strumming and keyboard, but the notes of the chorus reach up and tumble down in a more full-of-life way than most songs before it.
“Underwater Theme” made me giggle. The repetition of the lyric, “Stop asking me questions,” resonated with me after the never-ending questions about my post-grad plans at holiday gatherings. The second-to-last track, “I’m Hurting,” really amps it up before the closing of this three-part strum-fest. While the limited lyrics I could decipher seemed dreary, this track sounded like a Hoops song on amphetamines. The hyper drums and ever-moving lyrics made me feel like I should be in some John Hughes film, jumping around on my bed.
I’d recommend this set of tapes for fans of artists like Mac Demarco and Japanese Breakfast. Hear this band coming soon to WGRE while you gear up for finals over the next couple of weeks. Be sure to tune in whatever time you’d like on 91.5 FM or on wgre.org!