PRINTPop-rock jocks
Taylor Hanson and friends drop debut album
Courtesy of Damien Neva
May 13, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Tinted Windows might dethrone Asia as the new king of supergroups. The band is composed of Taylor Hanson of the pop group Hanson, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, and Bun E. Carlos, the 57-year-old drummer of Cheap Trick. Tinted Windows formed out of Schlesinger and Hanson’s long-term friendship, but something was still missing after Iha joined the group: the enthusiastic beats of someone like Carlos. With that thought, they called the man himself and convinced him to join the project.
So what does the love child of all these musical forces sound like? Like the power pop of a time when Carlos was behind the kit for Cheap Trick. Because of Taylor Hanson’s still boyish voice and simplistic lyrics, the album almost sounds like the Jonas Brothers for grown-ups. It seems Iha didn’t turn the beloved Hanson ray of sunshine dark. And though a Jo Bro comparison isn’t uncalled for considering Tinted Window’s similarly catchy melodies, prepubescent-sounding vocals and soaring, poppy guitar riffs, the band still has a certain sophistication and refinement that Disney or American Idol can’t capture in their pop projects, probably due to a little thing called experience.
Drawing inspiration from bands such as The Kanck and the Buzzcocks, Tinted Windows is infectiously cute from beginning to end, but no one’s original sound is lost. “Messing With My Head” is a prime example, with vocals harkening back to the innocent days of ’90s-era Hanson contrasting against the subtle minor chord punches from Iha and Schlesinger’s familiar backup singing. The band’s first single, “Kind of Girl,” is equally catchy and proves that Carlos has gotten better since “I Want You to Want Me.”
Although Tinted Windows is frighteningly happy stuff with lyrics that Billy Corgan would shudder to hear, the project is a welcome return to innocence.
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