One-time teenybopper band Hanson returns

Underneath EP

Hanson

3CG Records

Recommended if you…

Underneath EP

Hanson

3CG Records

Recommended if you like: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Remember being 11, 14 or 17 and having an insane quantity of the opposite sex screaming in ecstasy at your every move? Don’t feel bad; I don’t remember it either. But the band Hanson sure can relate.

A few years back, Hanson took over the music charts with their infectious and arguably irritating hit single “Mmmbop.” Boys gasped with horror when they found out that lead singer Taylor Hanson was not a female and girls could not get enough of Taylor’s and his brothers’ prepubescent charm. And as fast as they burst into the limelight, Hanson seemed to disappear into the obscure black hole that sucks up even the most popular of pop-stars. Well, six years later, the towheaded little devils from Tulsa, Okla., are back. You will be shocked when you realize this is not your little sister’s Hanson. Gone are the soprano harmonies that infiltrated their first album, Middle of Nowhere.

A few months ago, Isaac, now 22, Taylor, 20 (married, with a baby boy), and Zac, 17, split from their record label, Island/Def Jam, claiming that the label wanted them to stick to their sugary sweet pop, not giving them a chance to evolve into the mellow rock band that they had started to become. The sound of their new EP, Underneath Acoustic, is no longer comparable to the Jackson 5, but instead is easily compared to current breakout acts, such as Hanson’s close friends Maroon 5 and Phantom Planet. Since Hanson did not feel they had leeway to express themselves creatively at Island/Def Jam, they released Underneath Acoustic on their own label, 3CG records. The CD is only available on Hanson’s Web site, www.hanson.net, and is a preview to their upcoming studio album Underneath, which will be released in early spring 2004 to major retailers such as Target and Sam Goody.

Underneath Acoustic is a raw, acoustic journey into the studio with a band that has stripped down to nothing but their musical soul. A small number of fans were invited into the studio as the band recorded the album. The track “Underneath” is a strong, soulful reminiscence of a love left behind by growth and change, beginning with a bluesy harmonica and progressing into a heartfelt longing. With lyrics such as “I fear I’m losing you beneath my skin, what is the resolution for this pain that I’m in. Sitting all alone in this place, even though we’re here face to face, there is nothing gone, but there’s something wrong,” it is clear that there are deep feelings behind their lyrics, drawing from personal experience.

So, if you are feeling open-minded and experimental, give Hanson a try. I did, and I was impressed by their honesty and artistic expression.