By Barry Walters
2010 06 08
Lots of teen idols routinely make proclamations of independence but few actually follow through. Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson’s fifth album since their 1997 breakthrough is entirely self-written and self-produced, and aside from some bass lines and horn riffs, it’s all self-played. Having flexed their rock muscles on 2007’s The Walk, the Hansons pump up the soul in their pop, stretching beyond the Jackson 5-isms of “MMMBop” to embrace Sixties Southern R&B. Most white guys who aim for Ray Charles end up like the Blues Brothers, but on effusive tracks like “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’,” Tulsa’s favorite siblings simply sound liberated.