I was 12 years old in the summer of 1997. I was going into 7th grade and totally enamored with hard rock. I bought my first Kiss record the summer before and had just discovered Black Sabbath, Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. Anything that didn’t involve large amounts of distortion was immediately dismissed. The song of the summer was “MMMBop,” by a tribe of long-haired brothers called Hanson. I hated it immediately. I hated the way the guitars jangled, I hated the close harmonies, and I especially hated the uber-trendy turntable scratching. I spent the next few years trying to destroy the Hanson brothers.
Of course, there was only so much that a pre-teen from the suburbs of Baltimore could do, but I like to think I did my part. I bought a bumper sticker from Hot Topic that said “Honk If You Love Hanson, Then Drive Into a Tree.” I proudly affixed the sticker to the side of my chair, where it remained until last summer.
If 12-year old John were here right now, he’d be very upset with me. I am listening to Tinted Windows, the new power pop supergroup fronted by Taylor Hanson, and it’s really fucking great. Power pop is not about innovation or breaking new ground, it’s all about formula. A good power pop record is like mac and cheese. If you overbake it or leave the noodles in the water too long, it’s nasty. If all the elements come together, it’s warm and satisfying. Tinted Windows is the latter.
For the formula to work, every member of the band must do their part. Tinted Windows are veterans of the power pop genre, and know it inside and out. Taylor Hanson sings with just the right mixture of sweetness and grit. The chorus is the most important part of a power pop song, and Hanson’s lead vocals mesh perfectly with the close harmonies of Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. Schlesinger and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos are a great rhythm section. They keep it simple and on time.
Hanson, Schlesinger and Carlos are veterans of the genre, so it’s obvious they would do well. The biggest surprise on the album is ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha. Iha is primarily known for the gloomy walls of guitars he provided on The Pumpkins’ biggest records. There is nothing gloomy about his playing on this record. His guitars are bright and sunny, with just a hint of fuzz pedal. They even jangle! Occasionally there is a subtle synthesizer line, for a slight taste of New Wave.
Lyrically, Tinted Windows sticks with the tried and true. Every song on the record is about a girl. Hanson is either trying to find the courage to talk to her (“Kind of a Girl”), trying to convince her that his aim is true (“Dead Serious”) or trying to win her back (“Back With You”). Sex is non-existent, because power pop is all about holding hands and gumdrop flowers. The lyrics are highlighted by a lot of “yeah yeahs,” “no nos” and “doot dos,” because they are required by law to have them
For such a simple genre, power pop is really hard to get right. Tinted Windows have done the right thing by just keeping it basic. The songs are catchy, easy to understand and almost every chorus delivers. Clocking in at a svelte ten tracks, the album never overstays its welcome. Hopefully this won’t be a one shot deal, because Tinted Windows has tons of potential. Somewhere 12-year old John is calling me a loser.