The Hoosiers

THE HOOSIERS ***

CARLING ACADEMY, GLASGOW

THE invite said "fancy dress preferred". Some of the guests complied, with superhero costumes being the favoured look. Hosts The Hoosiers managed to stretch to one Deputy Dawg hat, their own superhero on keyboards, and Robin the Boy Wonder and a skeleton on brass and backing vocals, plus some bouncing balloons to play with. Even without sugary snacks, the kids were in hysterics.

But this was no kids' party. It was a gig by grown-ups for grown-ups, coated in a veneer of almost desperate jocularity.

While it is refreshing that The Hoosiers don't take themselves at all seriously, there is a credible pop band struggling to break through all the silly window dressing.

So what was wrong with just letting the music do the talking? The Hoosiers already have a fancy set of soaring pop tunes, interspersed with reflective ballads and a meaty new retro power pop number which suggested there are plenty more daytime radio hits to follow the ELO-indebted Goodbye Mr A and Worried About Ray.