Hanson

8 p.m. Friday, The Big Easy, $21, TicketWeb.

By Michael Deeds
The Idaho Statesman

Remember Zac, the mop-headed, drum-bashing little wild child in Hanson?

He weighs 180 pounds now.

But, "I still try to be spastic," Zac, 17, insists, launching into a story about how he nearly lit a pillow on fire the night before.

Oldest brother Isaac is 22 -- a "geezer," Zac jokes, not a total stretch, considering that he has back problems from slinging a Les Paul guitar his entire life.

And middle brother Taylor, 20?

He´s married. And has a kid.

Yet in one way, the Tulsa-based band -- which had a No. 1 smash in 1997 with "MMMBop" -- hasn´t changed a bit. The brothers still have music pulsating through their veins.

Hanson is on an unplugged tour in support of "Underneath Acoustic," an EP that contains songs from the full-length, electric "Underneath" album to be released next year.

Hanson recently parted with Island Def Jam and started it own label. "Underneath" will feature guest vocals from Michelle Branch and a title track that was co-written by Matthew Sweet. "Everyone´s really excited about what´s going on with (the album), and how it turned out," Zac says.

Hanson first exploded onto the pop charts with "Middle of Nowhere," an upbeat pop record that sold 6.5 million copies in the United States and got nominated for three Grammys.

The group´s 2000 follow-up, "This Time Around," was an MMMflop.

Yet Zac has nothing but fond memories -- even though he was just 10 or 11 years old when "MMMBop" was tearing up the charts.

"I was a little kid, but that doesn´t discredit it for me," he says. "It was such a great experience."

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