Hanson grows up
If you remember 1997, you probably weren't there. Brian McCollum reports.


We've been through enough Britneys, 'N Syncs and Lil Bow Wow at this point that you probably have to tax your brain to recall just how weird the summer of 1997 felt.

You're forgiven if you can't quite conjure the old sensation; eight years, after all, is several eons in the MTV-paced cycle of pop culture.

But try to remember the first time you heard Mmmbop on the radio, or the second time you heard it and could already hum along, or the moment you learnt that Hanson was a trio of young brothers whose drummer was 11 years old. As with the out-of-the-blue success enjoyed a few months earlier by
LeAnn Rimes, who stormed the charts at a tender 13, it was easy to chalk up the brothers Hanson as a one shot novelty - a quick, quirky phenomenon offering light relief among the Pearl Jams, Puff Daddys and other heavy hitters.

In 1997, a teenage cameo on the pop charts was curious and cute. What few realised then, as the peppy Mmmbop lit up America's radios. is that Hanson was opening the floodgates to a phenomenon that would dominate popular music into the new millenium.

It was an onslaught of teen music now so familiar we take it for granted: featherweight pop made for young people, by young people. Eight years ago, it was a novelty. Today it's the way of the pop world.

For followers of contemporary music, it has been an intriguing -and occasionally distressing - eight years. Pop is music for youth, of course, and teen idols have been a part of modern culture since Pat Boone was crafty enough to highlight teeth over talent.

Even before Hanson kicked in the puppy love instincts of 90s
prepubescents, the decade had seen a handful of pop prodigies, mostly a scattering of female R&B teens such as Brandy and Aaliyah.

But this was something different. In the wake of Hanson came a seemingly endless stream of fresh-faced popsters: the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Jessica Simpson, 98 Degrees, Mandy Moore, Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Destiny's Child. The airwaves became Disneyfied and American Idol-ised.

Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson didn't start anything. They just got the first, providing an undeniable signal: The biggest and richest teen generation in the world's history had arrived.

For those irritated by today's lip-synced, airbrushed, choreographed state of affairs, the biggest frustration is what could have been. With the arrival of Gen Y, a new crop of young pop was inevitable. The disappointment is that Hanson, the one that got there first, was the last to do what it did: play rock'n'roll.

Sure, Mmmbop was chirpier than an Archies song, but it was rock. Guitars, drums, bass. The kids loved it, plenty of adults secretly loved it, and Hanson's mammoth success seemed to presage a promising next chapter for rock'n'roll. The Beatles, after all, began as bubblegum and look what they launched.

But it didn't happen. The same adolescent audience that swooned over Hanson soon tore down its Taylor posters and drifted into a decidedly un-rock'n'roll world - the realm of Britney, Backstreet and 'N Sync, dominated by slick stage moves and faux-soul vocals digitised to death by studio wizards. It's a long, pitiful road from Hanson's sunshine rock to
Hilary Duff's manicured dance-pap.

Guitarist Isaac Hanson, the oldest of the brothers, is now 23. His band has just released a new album, Underneath, a healthy serving of power pop featuring collaborations with such underground rock savants as Matthew Sweet and Gregg Alexander. And while Hanson's core fan base never gave up,
the rest of the world quit taking notice.

Isaac recalls his band's breakout heyday with mixed emotions.

"Looking back, I take it with a grain of salt. But I took it with a grain of salt then, too," he says. "It comes and goes so quickly, and we knew that. You can never put too much significance into it. You just have to be yourself and make music you feel from your gut, and hopefully your audience will respond. The unfortunate thing is there are some people who
never understood who we are."

As a unit, the trio has become tighter with time, Isaac says, drummer Zac having grown into a muscular, agile pounder. "His backbeat over the years has only gotten deeper," Isaac says. "His pockets have gotten so deep, he can taste the lint."

The organic Underneath showcases that growth, both in songwriting and performance. But will people listen? Was Hanson doomed by its very success - or even more cruelly, by its association with groups whose music was truly trifling?

"I'll be totally clear about it," Isaac says, voice stiffening. "I was totally offended when people said we were like 'N Sync. I've got nothing against them. I know those guys. But comparing us was lame. It was apples and oranges."

Isaac Hanson isn't interested in chatting about marketing science. He just maintains a single aim for his band - a goal he says was aroung long before Hanson helped kick off a revolution.

"In a phrase: I always hope it keeps getting better," he says.

"When we were young guys, there was a certain thought process in some people's heads that, 'Oh, this is a novelty.' What's really important is that all we ever were was a band. And all we ever wanted to be was a band."

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Hanson perform at Challenge Stadium on June 1, supported by Zinc. Tickets
are $72 from Ticketmaster7. It's an all-ages show