This Week at HNET

By | May 9, 2009
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Guide To Tulsa
Ida Red will be offering discounted Hanson approved snacks during the Members Only Event. Show your Membership card at checkout to receive 15% off orders over $25.

You could also receive a free gift bag at checkout from Dwelling Spaces during the Members Only Event. Don’t forget to show your membership card.

Tulsa Guide is available on hanson.net in PDF form

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Membership Kits Will Be Handed Out at Tulsa Event

Kits for members who have joined/renewed in 2009 will be given out with proper identification at the fan club event. Each member will receive his/her kit at their assigned session. For more information, visit hanson.net. Further detailed instructions to come early next week.

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Filming and recording at the Members Only Event

We know there are a lot of members that are unable to attend the exclusive event in Tulsa next week. We will be recording and filming, so keep an eye out on Hanson.net for footage in the weeks after the 16th.

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Pre-order Strong Enough To Break at the Members Only Event

We will be pre-selling the SETB CD/DVD beginning at the members only event next weekend. Anyone who pre-orders will receive free domestic shipping.

– The SETB CD/DVD will include a total of 15 demos from the recording of Underneath
– Demos of 5 never before released songs
– Over 60 minutes of bonus footage and interviews

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New Songs On SETB CD/DVD
– Let You Go
– Break Town
– Never Love Again
– My Own Sweet Time
– Our Of My Head

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Limited Edition Canvas Printings of Zac’s Hanson Day Painting

We will be selling a limited printing of the Hanson Day Painting that many of you have seen pictures of on the “Hansonmusic” Twitter. 200 numbered and signed copies will be available for purchase at all three shows, and the original painting will be on display.

ZacPoster

Tinted Windows Review

By | May 9, 2009
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James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins/A Perfect Circle, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick and Taylor Hanson of Hanson (WTF?) together again for the first time! What are the results from this Super Group with over 75 years of combined experience? Pure power pop greatness!

Believe it or not, the Tinted Windows has been ten years in the making. According to their bio on their website, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Taylor Hanson of Hanson have been friends since the late 90s. They recently decided that they should form a band with loud guitars to accompany Taylor Hanson’s voice. Their goal was to sound like The Knack and Cheap Trick. They still needed a drummer and they wanted one like Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick. On a whim, they sent the demos to Carlos in hopes he might be interested and he quickly joined the band. The results are pure power pop greatness.

The first thing you need to get over is the car wreck aspect of the members in the band. Obviously, Schlesinger has been belting out this kind of material with Fountains of Wayne, so fans of his will not be disappointed. Carlos is a legend from the greatest power pop band in history, so fans of his will be ok, however they may think the lyrical content is a little too sugary as compared to Cheap Trick. The WTF aspect is Iha playing chords that considerably much happier than the fuzzy grunge of Smashing Pumpkins or the dark metal riffage of A Perfect Circle.

The member that people will have a hard time getting over is Taylor Hanson. He has grown up considerably since belting out the guilty pleasure, “MMMBop” with his brothers. The last Hanson album was critically well received as a pop rock gem, however the acclaim did not translate to sales. On the self titled debut album, Hanson shines belting out numerous “Whoas Whoas”, “Cha Cha’s” and other sing along phrases to go along with the sugary lyrics.

The band is at its best on tracks like “Kind of a Girl”, “Messing with My Head”, “Dead Serious”, “Can’t Get a Read On You”, “Nothing to Me” and “Doncha Wanna”. All of these songs are full of hook heavy guitars that fans of the 80s “skinny tie bands” will appreciate. While the lyrical songwriting will not be mistaken for Bob Dylan (or Cheap Trick for that matter), the lyrics are fun and light, the way pop should be.

The lead single “Kind of a Girl” is by far the best and catchiest song. The band is kicking on all cylinders as Hanson belts out “Whoa Whoas” throughout the whole song and Iha fulfills the bands goal to have loud noisy guitars. It also has a brief 80s guitar solo.

Equally as infectious is “Can’t Get A Read on You.” It is a fast paced hook heavy rocker that will have listeners playing air guitar every time they listen.

As I said, the lyrics are overly simplistic and at times hokey. “Cha! Cha!” is fun, but childish for a band with three quarters of its members over the age of 40. However, no song is as lame as “Without Love”. I am not a big fan of songs speaking on the virtues of love. It didn’t work for Peter Cetera (“Glory of Love”) and the immortal Beatles (“All You Need is Love”), so I don’t feel this tune will change my mind.

Without love
You got nothing to live for, nothing to give
Without love
You got nothing to wish for, nothing to get

Without love the days are so long
Without love
You could never go
On and on and on on and on come on
On and on and on on and on come on

LAME! LAME! LAME!

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Article: Feeling Sixteen Again with Tinted Windows

By | May 8, 2009
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It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about a supergroup.

On paper, the idea of cherry-picking random players from different bands to create something new and fresh has always been intriguing-not unlike picking one from list A and 2 from list B at your favorite Chinese eatery.

In practice, however, to say that results may vary is an understatement. For every Raconteurs, Golden Smog, or even Crosby, Stills & Nash to wow you, there’s a Chequered Past, Asia, or Little Village to utterly underwhelm you (and I really, truly wanted to love Little Village).

Still, taking the backbeat from one of the most legendary power pop bands of all time (Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos), the flashy guitarist of one of the 90s biggest alt-rock bands (Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha) and quite possibly the most underrated pure pop songwriter of our generation (Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger) got my attention mighty quickly.

Adding the youngest brother of the bubblegum family act who introduced the word “MMMBop”into the American pop culture lexicon (Hanson’s Taylor Hanson) lent an intriguing twist to the project.

Snicker all you want, but the Brothers Hanson-at their heart-were a power pop band, who even collaborated with genre giant Matthew Sweet before breaking up.

That aside, Taylor-emboldened by Carlos’ presence-channels his inner Robin Zander with effortless ease on Tinted Windows’ irresistible self-titled debut, making this the album of the summer in an alternate reality 2009 where smart, hooky, guitar-driven pop reigns supreme.

Schlesinger’s songwriting remains as crisp as ever. This time, however, he trades the uber-brainy approach he brings to the Fountains’ table in for a more stripped down M.O., delivering deceptively simple gems that still shine smartly.

Like any power pop worth its weight in soaring harmonies, these songs are earworms of the most delightful kind.

Some, like “Doncha Wanna” (can we pass a law to require every person with a pulse and a driver’s license to blare this at every red light?) and “Kind Of A Girl” hit you immediately like the adrenaline rush of a first kiss with the girl or guy you never dreamed would kiss you.

Others are set to time deploy inside your head when you least expect it and keep you humming long after summer’s gone. Either way, the choicest moments of Tinted Windows can make you feel sixteen again.

Entertainment Weekly’s review of Tinted Windows boldly declares “If you don’t love this, your tie’s too wide.” I’ll see that and raise with a “If you don’t love this, you are”-to reference a favorite Jon Stewart Daily Show bit-”clearly not a fan of joy.”

Tinted Windows by Tinted Windows was released on April 21 on S-Curve.

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Kind of a background check fail, huh?

Ridiculous amounts of Tinted Windows articles which mention MMMBop

By | April 30, 2009
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It’s no secret that I have “mmmbop” on google alert. As I had mentioned previously, I don’t want to post every tinted window article, as this blog is mainly about Hanson. But I got a bajillion and one notifications this morning, so here are some links:

Pumpkins’ James Iha in new supergroup

Shades of the Past

Tinted Windows: Power-Pop Supergroup Makes A Super Record

Super ensemble Tinted Windows hits the sweet spot

Brookville Also Playing: Tinted Windows

Power pop for the ages through ‘Tinted Windows’

I wonder how many articles out there DON’T mention MMMBop…

Live review: Tinted Windows at the Troubadour

By | April 29, 2009
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“We got something,” Taylor Hanson of Tinted Windows sang Tuesday night at the Troubadour, “Yeah, we got something.”

There’s no denying that: A new supergroup featuring veterans of the Smashing Pumpkins, Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne and Hanson, Tinted Windows has a self-titled debut full of near-perfect power-pop songs, as well as a frontman who couldn’t look better in his soccer-mom shag and his tight white trousers.

Yet more than anything else, Tinted Windows’ first Los Angeles show emphasized what the band doesn’t have — namely, any collective sense of rock-star charisma. The hour-long Troubadour set was a rock concert re-imagined as a sort of trade-show demonstration.

The group’s lineup is a map of music-biz connections. In addition to his role in Fountains of Wayne, bassist Adam Schlesinger has worked extensively as a songwriter-for-hire, which led to his being introduced in the late 1990s to the three brothers of Hanson (you certainly remember the act’s “MMMBop”).

Additionally, Schlesinger and ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha co-own a record label and a New York City recording studio. As for drummer Bun E. Carlos, of Cheap Trick fame, the bearded and bespectacled artist has simply been around long enough to get the call when someone needs a noted power-pop timekeeper.

In the studio, these four craftsmen synthesized 11 new songs from dependable parts left over from hundreds of old ones; each tune sounds appealingly familiar after only a single verse or chorus. In its streamlined efficiency, the album makes a virtue out of professionalism, which Tinted Windows deserves credit for. If the album doesn’t sell, these guys should consider renting out their quality-control apparatus.

At the Troubadour, where the quartet was joined by guitarist Josh Lattanzi, professionalism calcified into disinterest. Hanson seemed overwhelmed by the task of connecting with the sold-out audience; more than once he opened his mouth as if to deliver some bit of banter, then closed it again without saying anything.

During “Messing With My Head,” Iha played a solo with all the enthusiasm of a guitar tech changing a broken string. And as the band’s rhythm section, Schlesinger and Carlos drove the music with competence but zero fire.

After playing everything on “Tinted Windows,” the band returned for a two-song encore. One was an unreleased tune called “The Dirt,” and the other was refreshingly affectionate cover of the Buzzcocks’ “I Don’t Mind.”

Hanson introduced the former as a song about cleaning up after a relationship in order to “make sure there’s no dirt left.” Someone should tell him that Tinted Windows could probably use a little dirt.

— Mikael Wood

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Article: New Band Of The Day: Tinted Windows (No 536)

By | April 28, 2009
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If you liked the Knack’s My Sharona, then you’ll love this power-pop supergroup who perform an homage to the golden age of three-minute guitar-driven bliss

Hometown: New York.

The lineup: Taylor Hanson (lead vocals), James Iha (guitar), Adam Schlesinger (bass), Bun E Carlos (drums).

The background: Tinted Windows are a power-pop supergroup comprising members of Cheap Trick, Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne and Hanson. Actually, only the Trick and FOW are bona fide power-pop groups, but what the four do together as Tinted Windows falls under that rubric: high-energy guitar-based pop songs about good times and bad girls, or bad times and good girls. “It’s about girls, the back and forth,” says frontman Hanson. “We’re trying to be as unpretentious as possible. We have a few songs with a little more of a tongue-in-cheek quality to the lyrics. But this is about the energy of guitar-driven, tight pop songs in the tradition of great bands like the Knack and the Buzzcocks and, for that matter, Cheap Trick.”

Woah there, pretty boy! Buzzcocks weren’t power pop, they were punk-pop – a major difference that would take a thesis to explain – and, in fact, you could probably quite reasonably argue that there never has been a British power-pop group (with the honourable exception of the Records, who were virtually a power-pop tribute act anyway). No, power pop is an American genre, always has been, always will be. Ironically, it began in the early 70s when Anglophile rockers like Big Star, the Raspberries, Stories and Blue Ash decided to stage a return to three-minute guitar pop inspired by (the memory of) British Invasion bands like the Beatles, the Hollies et al. Because all around them were navel-gazing troubadours, sludgy metal types and prog rockers, nobody was interested, hence the first power poppers failed dismally, giving their music a bittersweet edge. It wasn’t until the late 70s and the likes of the Knack and Cheap Trick that power pop became a potent commercial force.

But really, despite the relative success of Fountains of Wayne and Weezer in recent years, it has generally remained a culty genre, generally ignored by the public but much beloved of rock critics for its “meta” qualities and element of homage – it’s pop music about pop music; highly (self-)referential music that celebrates a long-lost golden age while trying to instigate a new one. “The whole album is a love letter to power pop, everything from Weezerbliss to the Knack to Big Star, and to simple, guitar-driven songs,” Tinted Windows say of their self-titled debut album. From what we’ve heard of it, there is nothing on there as dark or multilayered as Big Star, who purveyed a kind of power-pop noir, and there is little of Cheap Trick’s sense of parody, although their debut single, Kind of a Girl, is suitably steeped in pop-lyric cliches – a search on iTunes for songs of the same title produced 150 items. Still, if you liked the Knack’s My Sharona or Good Girls Don’t, you’ll be digging out your plimsolls and skinny tie.

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Article: Suburban NYC family settles music piracy suit

By | April 28, 2009
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The industry eventually dropped its suit against the mother. But it filed a new one against two of her children, Michelle and Robert, ages 20 and 16 at the time. The new lawsuit alleged the youths had downloaded and distributed more than 1,000 songs, including “MMMBop” by Hanson and “Beat It” by Michael Jackson.

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Article: Walking a mile today will help build schools in Africa

By | April 25, 2009
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When Ridgefielders Joanna Vill and Kerryn King participated in a pre-concert charity walk last April 25, their only goal was to get a little closer to their favorite rock band and charity organizers, Hanson.

While they did build a stronger connection to the band, the two friends walked away from the event, literally, with a sense that small efforts can make a big difference and it has inspired them to organize their own charity walk exactly a year after the first.

Ms. Vill and Ms. King, both 23, will be hosting a one-mile Take the Walk event through Ridgefield village this Saturday, April 25, at 11 a.m. to raise money for the Free the Children foundation. The money will go toward building a school in Africa.

Participation is free and a $1 donation will be made for every person who walks — courtesy of the band Hanson.

Hanson — best known for its rise to pop idol status with the song “Mmmbop” in the 1990’s — left the spotlight years ago but still record music. Ms. Vill admits that the band name can draw snickers or eye rolls from some due to the bubblegum pop image of the past but the group has a loyal fan base and they have made their charity work a part of every show.

“Before each of their concerts they have been hosting a one-mile barefoot walk with any fan that shows up a few hours before the show,” Ms. Vill said. “For each person who came to walk, the band would donate $1 in the walker’s name to one of five causes that the walker picked.”

Ms. Vill and Ms. King aren’t the only fans hosting these events. The band encourages all fans to organize their own versions of the Take the Walk events and promises their charity will donate $1 for each person who completes the walk.

Organizers choose from five charities, each benefiting areas of Africa devastated by AIDS, including building schools, building wells for clean water, providing shoes for children in need, helping fight AIDS through music, and AIDS patients having access to doctors through SMS text messaging.

“While all these actions are important, we chose education because it spoke the most to us,” Ms. King said. “Joanna is a teacher and I’m an assistant cheerleading coach at Ridgefield High School.”

Ms. Vill believes that education is a big factor in overall success of struggling communities, recovering from poverty and the AIDS epidemic.

“Education provides individuals with the power to make their own informed decisions and ultimately strengthen their communities,” Ms. Vill said.

Fliers are up for the April 25 event and about 25 people have already agreed to walk.

Walkers don’t need to sign-up beforehand and can just show up at the Ballard Park gazebo at 11 a.m. Signing a list provided at the conclusion of the walk will ensure that money goes toward building a school.

“For me, having 100 people would be awesome,” Ms. Vill said. “But realistically, we may have about 50 and that’s cool too.”

The walk will coincide with Downtown Ridgefield’s EarthFest so participants in the brief walk can enjoy the numerous offerings of the festival when it’s over.

Locals are invited to walk barefoot, to recognize those who suffer from severe poverty, but shoes are welcome, too.

“We hope a lot of people will participate so we can raise a lot of money,” Ms. King said. “But we also hope that at least one person will walk away wanting to do something more.”

To contact the organizers e-mail them at talkthewalkridgefield@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and to learn more visit Hanson’s Website at TaketheWalk.net.

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