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Mar 23, 2017 By Charles Steinberg

Fresh off of their stint at SXSW and riding the wave of buzz over their groovily gliding retro-pop jams, Indiana’s Hoops (great name for an Indiana band) released the new single and video for “On Top” today. Their debut album Routines comes out May 5th on Fat Possum.

An image of VHS tape, label in marker, being placed in a VCR by a curious teen is perfectly symbolic of the band’s style, reflecting an era when a certain warm shimmer came through your average analog recordings and listening devices.

“I just felt like writing a cheesy feel-good positive song,” Kevin Krauter (vox, bass) explains. In the song’s trippy music video, Hoops perform on a public access TV show when all of a sudden the viewers find themselves immersed in the performance.

If you haven’t heard yet, Fat Possum shared some background: “Hoops was born in frontman Drew Auscherman’s teenage bedroom as a solo ambient and beat-driven project à la Oneohtrix Point Never’s Replica. Auscherman named the band after the hoop houses at the nursery where he worked (not for his home state’s mania for basketball). Eventually he corralled a few of his friends to flesh out his songs, and the music inevitably shifted toward something new: more melodic, more guitar-driven, more extroverted. Fast forward to 2014, and Hoops have released three cassette tapes and last year’s self-titled debut EP, which earned them heaps of praise from press, spins from radio stations across the country, and a track that hit #2 on Spotify’s Global and U.S. Viral Charts.

Routines is a bittersweet and honest record that sounds both warmly familiar and jarringly distinctive. Full of hyper-melodic songs, built around power-pop chords, deceptively complex drum patterns, and rock-anthem sentiments, this album marks Hoops’ first-ever studio sessions. However, this was just one step in the Routines creative process.

Hoops is Drew Auscherman (vox, guitar), Kevin Krauter (vox, bass), Keagan Beresford (vox, keys, guitar), and James Harris (drums).

Tour Dates

5/02 - Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint

5/03 - Leeds, UK @ Headrow House

5/04 - Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen

5/07 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds

5/08 - Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana

5/09 - Brighton, UK @ The Green Door Store

5/10 - London, UK @ The Lexington

5/14 - Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival

5/15 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa *

5/17 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links *

5/18 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *

5/19 - Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder *

5/21 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *

5/22 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar *

5/23 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah *

5/24 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *

5/25 - San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall *

5/27 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *

5/28 - George, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival

6/01 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry *

6/02 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club *

6/06 - Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups

6/07 - Washington, DC @ DC9 ^

6/08 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right ^

6/09 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott ^

6/10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle ^

6/12 - Montreal, QC @ Brasserie Beaubien ^

6/13 - Ottawa, ON @ Pressed ^

6/14 - Toronto, ON @ The Baby G ^

6/15 - Detroit, MI @ El Club ^

6/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi

* w/ PARTS

^ w/ Joy Again