The Life of Me: August 2009

Tinted Windows are: Taylor Hanson (lead vocals), James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins(guitar), Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne(bass), and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick(drums).

Being a self-confessed Hanson fangirl for over a decade now, I had to get Tinted Window's album when it came out in late April. While I'm a fan of all of the band members's other work, I can't help but judge them mostly against Hanson, with whom I'm most familiar. Their songs are more poppy and less soulful, with less of the 3-part harmony integral to Hanson's sound. And as much as I would have loved Tinted Windows to be "Hanson 2.0: now with more street cred," I have to admit that their sound just works. The NY Times describes their music as "A multi-generational alliance devoted to power-pop...the songs are hook-slinging verse-chorus-verse testimonials of love and girl trouble."

Between being used to seeing Taylor play with Hanson and how utterly breathtaking their shows are and hearing that Taylor had lately been having trouble with his voice, I was worried they wouldn't be able to pull off the performance. I'm happy to say was worried for nothing. While there's nothing groundbreaking about their music, it's incredibly well-crafted and impeccably performed. (And really, what else would you expect from a so-called "Super Group"?) Having thought they looked a bit too slick in some of their promo videos (see "Messing With My Head" and "Kind of a Girl" ), I was happy to see that they were dressed more casually. Not only their look, but their sound was more casual and less polished, which suited them really well.

While they've played very few shows together as a band, because of the decades of live experience by the individual band members, when they get on stage they simply shine. Taylor Hanson is one of those musicians who was born to be a frontman, and it was his energetic performance that really made it work. While the rest of the band played impeccably, they didn't seem to attract much of the focus.

Even though their set was short because of their small amount of material, I think they made the right decision in not playing songs from their other bands. They could easily have padded their setlist with Hanson or Smashing Pumpkins songs that parts of the crowd would have loved, but they retain much more credibility by sticking to their own limited catalog and a few covers of completely unrelated bands.

Between their "day jobs," it's not surprising that they won't be playing many shows for a while, but if you're one of the lucky people in San Francisco who can see them on September 1 at Great American Music Hall, I'd highly recommend going.

My only complaint about the night was that not enough Tinted Windows fans were rocking out to the opener, the amazing local band US Royalty. The highlight of their performance for me was the lead singer, John Thornley's, vocals (not to mention his epic facial hair). His voice is powerful and distinctive, neither overpowering the band nor being drowned out. Their songs are melodic and catchy, often starting slowly and simply and swelling to the perfect rock crescendo.

My personal favorite was the song "Raincoats".

If they come to your town, go see them and bring all of your friends. You wont be disappointed. And while you're there, buy their two EPs. They're amazing and a steal at just $10 for the pair.