CD REVIEW | April 30, 2009

Band blends pop sounds

| Staff Writer

Taylor Hanson has certainly grown up. Leaving “MMMBop” and his brothers behind, Hanson joins forces with James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick to form Tinted Windows. Their debut album doesn’t disappoint.

For most of the album, Carlos and Schlesinger keep the beat more up-tempo, with Hanson belting the lyrics over Iha’s unfiltered guitar. The title track, “Kind of a Girl,” somehow marries the quirky writing style of Schlesinger with Iha’s simple but powerful guitar work. The standout track is “Back With You,” the slowest song on the album. The group is interesting in that it takes Hanson’s bubblegum pop sound and puts it over loud guitars. Once the shock of his voice being paired with the stripped-down and amped-up instruments wears off, the CD really gets into its groove and delivers.

 


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