Even though Hanson, one of the biggest teen acts in the mid'90s, was without a record company's financial and promotional support, the photogenic siblings still packed 1,000-seat clubs last year.

Drummer Zac Hanson, 19, said he feels fortunate that his band's hardcore fans stuck around until the trio released a new album, "Underneath," in April.

"We've always been lucky to have really devoted fans. Even though there's four years in between albums, we still have thousands and thousands of people coming to our Web site (hanson.net) every day looking for what's going on. We can't give those people enough credit and praise for their devotion," the youngest of the trio said.

"It's cool to have critical success because it's always nice for your peers to say, 'Good job.' But who cares about them? It's the people who come out to the shows and the people who buy the albums who actually matter. Everyone else is actually icing on the cake. It would be nice to have radio support, not that we've ever had that much trouble with it," he said.

Zac and his brothers - keyboardist/singer Taylor Hanson and guitarist/singer Isaac Hanson - have embarked on a U.S. tour that they hope follows suit. They come to the 2,500-capacity State Theatre on Friday.

The band is touring in support of "Underneath," its first album since 2000's "This Time Around." Released on its own label 3CG Records, "Underneath" brings Hanson full circle. It released its first independent album in the mid-1990s before scoring the international hit "MmmBop." Hanson said that he and his brothers have equal say in the company, which is distributed by AOL-Time Warner's ADA imprint.

"It's pretty much run by everybody. We're very involved in everything that goes on. We always have been. This is really taking it to the next level, I guess. Sometimes we're so involved that it really slows things down," the budding young mogul said.

"Underneath" was produced by Greg Wells, who has worked with Rufus Wainwright and Michelle Branch; Bob Marlette (Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper); John Shanks (Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow); and Danny Kortchmar (Don Henley, Billy Joel). Kortchmar co-produced the first single "Penny and Me."

"Our goal was that every part that was played had a clear purpose in order to make this album more dynamic. This leaves the music feeling complete without overwhelming the listener," Hanson said.

It was a collaborative effort. The Oklahoma trio co-penned tunes with Matthew Sweet and former Grosse Pointer Gregg Alexander, onetime frontman of the pop group the New Radicals.

"It was cool working with Gregg - just getting together in a room and spending a couple days and thrashing out some music. Gregg's definitely a character but he's a cool guy," he said of "Lost Without Each Other," which has an Elvis Costello and the Attractions feel to it.

"Matthew's a great writer and a really talented musician. We just enjoyed each other's company. We spent about four hours without knowing each other at all. One day we met through a mutual friend and we said, 'Hey, let's write tomorrow.' We had four hours because Matthew had dinner and we had a meeting before then so we couldn't start any earlier."

Within an hour and a half, Hanson and Sweet co-penned the title track "Underneath," a sweetly sung song lined with strings.

"It's that artist community of people just using each other's talents and strengths to combine to create something for the greater good," Hanson said. "It sounds like the theme for a superhero team (or) like I'm reading the paragraph explaining what people do."