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Stripped-down sound still uplifting
By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff, 8/14/2003

We'd bet good money that the Middle East nightclub in Cambridge, haven to indie kids and punk rockers, has never before seen the likes of the Hanson fan who for 90 scream-saturated minutes held a sign above her head that read: "Zac! Can we please have your drumsticks?"


The "MMMBop" boys are on a club tour to reconnect with fans and introduce music from their forthcoming album, "Underneath." Judging from the sea of shining female faces that packed the club Tuesday night and sang every word to every song -- including the new ones, which are available on a live acoustic disc -- Hanson's work amounts to merely showing up onstage. The happy news is that these photogenic pups did much more than reap the vestigial good will generated by the one infectious single they're famous for. Twenty-two-year-old Isaac, 20-year-old Taylor, and 17-year-old Zac accomplished the estimable task of brightening a dark, sticky basement with endlessly sunny melodies, effervescent harmonies, and spunky rhythms that owe far more to classic pop songcraft than the teen-fluff craze the group kick-started in 1997.

Isaac has now taken the front-center position, exerting his place in the birth order over Taylor, a gifted vocalist and born poster boy. While Isaac has become a sturdy singer and capable guitarist, Taylor's blue-eyed soul singing is the stuff of swoons. Zac, the baby, bravely took a turn in the spotlight after busting a hole in his kick drum. He played piano and searched valiantly for his pitch in a flimsy falsetto, offering rather painful proof that some fine harmony singers are simply not meant to go it alone.

It was a minor revelation on the heels of Justina's Vegas-style juggernaut to see Hanson's stripped-down affair -- all ringing acoustic guitars, shakers and tambourine, piano, and harmonica. One almost assumes at this point that adorable blond singers are automatically bundled off to dance studios and stylists. Or that a massive reinvention would have followed Hanson's commercially disappointing second release, 2000's "This Time Around." But while the new material is infused with a more mature, singer-songwriter vibe -- "Hey" is a spry Southern rocker that smacks of the Stones, and "Underneath," a measured ballad, swaps the usual bright hues for darker colors -- the songs still tumble along on the same infectious swells and sparkling hooks that put Hanson on the radar screen in the first place.

Which leads one to the striking conclusion that Hanson plays these sweet soul-pop tunes just because they like them. It's a humble effort, and a novel one for mainstream music. Hanson isn't breaking creative ground or pushing at the edges of anything. The simple joy in the songs and on the fans' faces -- especially when Zac handed the girl with the sign his drumstick -- is an entirely different sort of accomplishment.