Effervescent melodies and those harmonies that could only come from gene-splicing have always been at the pith of the impressive success Hanson has found at such a young age.

But even at a time the three brothers from Tulsa, Okla., were playing to mostly swooning, pre-teen audiences (only a few years younger than themselves), signs of a defter, more nuanced musical capacity rested just below the surface. The trio's breakout album, 1997's "Middle of Nowhere," for example, belied its bubblegum marketing push with self-penned tunes and producers it shared with slack-rockers Beck and the Beastie Boys. Ensuing tours showcased not only the hits, but straight blues and early garage rock covers from the likes of the Spencer Davis Group and the Young Rascals as well.

Now, with a new, self-released album that redefines them as artists of the "pop underground," and their first full-scale tour in four years — for which they'll be stopping at the Oakdale in Wallingford tonight — Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson are still simultaneously challenging and assuaging their listeners.

"One of the things I've always liked to do with songs is thread in a lot of subtleties," Taylor Hanson said via cell phone from Chicago last week, where he and his brothers were set to play a sold-out gig at the House of Blues. "I think a lot of people don't get it, and I think people don't ever want to read into things. But I've always loved the idea of being subtle with a message, or a texture, and letting people find stuff."

With "Underneath," Hanson's first full-length release since 2000's "This Time Around," 21-year-old Taylor, the band's chief singer/songwriter/keyboardist, has progressed well beyond the sometimes overt attempts at maturity that stifled earlier releases. Instead, the songs are still effortlessly catchy and packed with more little surprises, not unlike the smart power-pop of Jon Brion or everyone's template for the genre, Big Star.



Here, we may as well point out an example from the first single off of "Underneath," "Penny & Me." Taylor's soulful lead vocal floats over relaxed piano, acoustic guitar chords and a just-in-the-distance staccato riff, before exploding into an uplifting, falsetto refrain. At its essence, a simple summer, open-road tune, the song still manages to satisfy the audiophiles as well as the pop abecedarians.

"Underneath," despite its self-released status, debuted in April at No. 25 on Billboard's album chart, and Taylor said the tour has been just as well received. It's been made even more exciting for the band, however, due to the long period of time it went between the loud, electric sets its now playing. Last winter into this spring, Hanson played a nationwide acoustic tour to support an unplugged EP it had out. Taylor traded in his keyboard for a grand piano; Isaac, 23, strummed an acoustic guitar; while drummer Zac, now 18, worked off a set of bongos.

"The acoustic tour was like bringing people to our writings sessions, in a way," Taylor said. "But it's been four years since the last time we played full-on rock 'n' roll shows. And so we're interested now in just plugging in and making some more noise."

To show this enthusiasm, the band has even slipped some AC/DC into its sets on the current tour. But no matter what Hanson plays — be it "MMMBop" or a Radiohead cover (which it's been known to do) — Taylor said it's about one thing.

"I like to shake people in their boots a little bit. When people come into the show, there's a protective shell around them, and I like to just break that," Taylor said.



plarocco@record-journal.com