Tinted Windows

When word got out that former Smashing Pumpkin guitarist James Iha, Hanson's Taylor Hanson, Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos and Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger were forming a band, a collective "wha?" reverberated throughout the blogosphere. While musical super-groups are nothing new, such a diverse assemblage seemed almost comical. What could these four possibly have in common? Pure, unadulterated power pop, as it turns out. For those who last heard Hanson's voice in its pre-pubescent "Mmmbop" phase (probably everyone reading this), the singer's come into his own. The problem is the band bring nothing new to the already stale genre. The quartet can certainly write some catchy tunes ― opener "Kind of a Girl" is as catchy as you'd expect from a group with Tinted Windows' lineage. But most of their debut is by-the-numbers and over-produced, to the point where what could have been 36 minutes of raw energy is now slick and saccharine.