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<\/p>\nJune 19th, 2013<\/p>\n
by Colin McGuire<\/p>\n
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In 2010, Hanson released the great record everyone always knew they could make. Backed by a charming if not brilliant music video that depicted the group re-imagining The Blues Brothers<\/i>\u2019 \u201cShake A Tail Feather\u201d scenes for lead single \u201cThinking \u2018Bout Somethin\u2019\u201d, Shout It Out<\/i> highlighted Hanson\u2019s soul music chops while staying true to the group\u2019s sugar-soaked formula. It was the perfect combination of baby blue eyes and Tulsa, Oklahoma, musical pedigree, a move that served as proof these guys had finally grown up without having to resort to acoustic guitars or reflective ballads smothered in supposed sincerity. Indeed, the brothers Hanson had found their groove, and Shout It Out<\/i> was the most addicting coming out party since 1996\u2019s MMMBop soiree.<\/p>\n
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So, the follow-up would be even better, right? Three years after that initial dive into a pool filled with both rhythm and blues, these guys would surely come up for air only to find more horn-filled refrains and pop-funk structures, no? Shout It Out<\/i> was only the beginning to a phase in the trio\u2019s career that would ultimately see them become respected modern day soul savants, sharing stages with Fitz and the Tantrums or even the occasional Hall & Oates reunion, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
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Well, in short, no. Anthem<\/i>, the fourth release on their own 3GC Records imprint, is somewhat of an unexpected turn toward a harder, more aggressive sound. It\u2019s not that the values of the groove are completely ignored; rather, it\u2019s just that they are buried and forgotten in favor of what seems to be a play for simplicity and traditional rock. The result isn\u2019t particularly awful anymore than it is particularly disappointing.<\/p>\n
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The tone is set quickly with opener \u201cFired Up\u201d. Based heavily around a single (and admittedly infectious) guitar-god riff, the track feels like a 55-year-old father of three wearing leather pants drinking a Zima while enjoying a night on the town. Such is accentuated with an odd, prickly bridge that showcases Isaac\u2019s soloing skills in a way that recalls Matchbox Twenty\u2019s \u201cCrutch\u201d from their 2000 release, Mad Season<\/i>. Yeah\u2014weird, isn\u2019t it? Yet almost in spite of this newfound edgier attitude, the guitars quickly morph into a section that introduces a new blend of rock and funk the brothers have only recently taken on. Still, hearing Taylor Hanson mutter \u201cCome with us if you want to live\u201d in somewhat of a confrontational tone brings more laughter than it does drama. It\u2019s all too polished to be gritty, but too gritty to be good.<\/p>\n
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None of this is to say that the record doesn\u2019t have its strong points. Single \u201cGet The Girl Back\u201d takes a while to settle in, but once it does, good luck trying to get the thing out of your head. Say what you want about Hanson, but they\u2019ve never not known how to utilize a cowbell and some handclaps. Plus, it also serves as one of the tracks that theoretically could have appeared on Shout It Out<\/i> if only for how its influence sits in gospel music. As for the winner of the Most Likely To Be On Shout It Out<\/i> contest, that award would go to the aptly titled \u201cI\u2019ve Got Soul\u201d. Actually, not only is it the funkiest the group have ever sounded on record, but it\u2019s also the most competent. The horn runs and snappy snare drum alone evoke Steely Dan, quite the praise for a trio of brothers who were once lumped in with the boy band crowd. More of this, and they might have had a bona fide contemporary classic on their hands.<\/p>\n
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Instead, though, we are relegated to \u201cAlready Home\u201d, an organ-filled rocker that opens up into a pop alternative chorus that simply doesn\u2019t fit into the Hanson arsenal. Not only is it a pattern we\u2019ve heard constantly from, say, Foo Fighters, it\u2019s also a tactic that seems shoe-horned in with only the intention of making it feel modern. \u201cJuliet\u201d is better, but, ironically, dated. Heavy on piano, it has all the makings of a summer single \u2026 in 2011. Standing against the rest of its album-mates, the song is certainly one of the best-looking, though as is typically the case with high school heartthrobs, none of it seems abnormally interesting. \u201cTragic Symphony\u201d runs into problems when it becomes the opposite: While infinitely more interesting than its peers with its double-time tempo and crescendo\/decrescendo formula, it still needs to shed a few pounds before anyone votes it Prom Queen.<\/p>\n
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Actually, the tracks that would be left without a date in this metaphor are the ballads. \u201cFor Your Love\u201d does<\/b> bring out the acoustic guitars and allows what sounds like Isaac to step up to the mic. Based around \u201cfighting\/striving for your love\u201d, the song will be beloved by the die-hard, once-teen-now-30-something Hanson fans, but to the naked ear, it\u2019s just another schmaltzy slow dance. \u201cSave Me From Myself\u201d is a more traditional way to slow things down, its piano prominence playing a big part in the equation, but the sentiment is tired (and not one these guys haven\u2019t used before, mind you). It\u2019s fine enough, of course, but it\u2019s just not memorable in any real tangible way.<\/p>\n
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And thus we find ourselves at the core of Anthem<\/i>\u2018s problems: It\u2019s fine enough, but it\u2019s just not memorable in any real tangible way. Sometimes, expectations can cloud opinions, and as anyone who\u2019s ever been let down before could tell you, even managed expectations can lead to an unfair interpretation of work that isn\u2019t nearly as bad as it first seems. Here, though, Hanson show no signs of permanently setting up shop anywhere near Calumet City, Illinois, suggesting that their previous visit with Tom \u201cBones\u201d Malone or Matt \u201cGuitar\u201d Murphy may very well have been their last. And that\u2019s a shame, too, because expectations or not, Shout It Out<\/i> traveled somewhere beyond good and wound up settling near great. Anthem<\/i>, however, struggles just to be OK.<\/p>\n
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And while we all know OK is a lot better than bad, it\u2019s still so far away from great.<\/p>\n