Hanson
Underneath
3CG Records
The brothers Hanson have cut their hair and gone indie. Now in their 20s, Oklahoma’s most famous teeny-boppers — keyboardist Taylor, guitarist Isaac and drummer Zachary — have a record label of their very own and a home studio.
In an unlikely maturation story, Hanson has grown up intact: no Michael Jackson or David Cassidy breakaways.
“Underneath,” the trio’s third full-length, features co-writing drop-bys from Matthew Sweet and Gregg Alexander (of the New Radicals), plus production pitch-ins from Carole King alumni Danny Kortchmar and Greg Wells, but the album is fully theirs.
They compose and play with skill. They note with pride how they helped engineer the album and manned the Pro Tools recording software.
Individually, none of the three has a particularly strong voice; Taylor, who handles most of the leads, is a pretty thin Michael Jackson imitation. Together, though, they can harmonize like Bee Gee choirboys.
Hanson has an obvious talent for high production value and a sharp ear for melodic song craft. “Underneath” is flawless. For that reason, it lacks the human raggedness that makes for truly great pop music.
The songs are mostly midtempo, introduced by acoustic guitar or piano and followed by brightly packaged chunks of background vocals, plus polished overdubs from session players such as Jamie Muhuberac.
Yet there’s no point resisting the easy, power-poppy appeal of songs such as “Get Up and Go,” “Crazy Beautiful,” “Strong Enough to Break” and the Michelle Branch-backed “Deeper.” Even the fang-free hard rock of “Dancin’ in the Wind” satisfies.
Steeped in old R&B and classic ’60s pop, the brothers appreciate a good hook and know how to craft one on their own.
“When You’re Gone” proves they can supervise a song from soup to nuts: It was written, performed and engineered by the three brothers alone.
Another thing: Each of the Hansons is plenty old enough to have partaken of all the vices of rock stardom: reckless sex, booze and drugs; star-tripping arrogance; jadedness. Yet the brothers, by all appearances, haven’t strayed from their trad-value roots, and that lack of cynicism is reflected in their music. The world, for them, is not a lousy place. All is not lost, and belief isn’t pointless.
Innocence, however, can lead to a dishonesty all its own.
Taylor sounds as if he’s pouring out his heart on the torch ballad “When You’re Gone,” says his “heart’s too numb to feel.” Isaac helms a song called “Misery,” borrowing the Cars’ “Drive” hook while he’s at it.
How convincing can such emotions be, buried as they are beneath layers of production sheen? Are they singing out of conviction, or are loneliness and love on the rocks just time-honored themes of the pop songs they grew up revering?
At the very least, it’s hard to take Taylor seriously when he proffers a “walk on the wild side.”
Hanson is at its best when it leaves the badness to the bad boys.
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