Tinted Windows: Tinted Windows (S-Curve Records, 2009)
Tinted Windows is the new supergroup where James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins.. but the solo album is obviously the most important thing), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne, Ivy) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) teamed up with Taylor Hanson. Some have been far from impressed, but I think they’ve created a great little pop album. Okay, it’s nothing groundbreaking and the lyrics won’t win the annual poetry competition, but it’s catchy and truly enjoyable pop music. Okay, it might be just whole lot of fun packed into simple, energic pop songs about the girls they either have, have lost or are only dreaming about, but exactly when did that become a bad thing. And if you tell me that Taylor Hanson’s Nothing To Me is not a magnificent piece of Big Star influenced pop music, my peaceful heart might lose its patience and show you a bad finger and throw some raspberries towards you. It wasn’t even until I was writing this review tonight when I noticed that Nothing To Me is actually written by Taylor. I wouldn’t have guessed that. I mean here we have a band that contain my two big songwriting heroes Adam Schlesinger and James Iha and the best song is written by a guy that I couldn’t have cared less about before this project. A good lesson that I should let my ears and heart make the decisions and not be so freakin’ prejudiced beforehand. Now where is that Taylor fan club. I really want to join in.
In overall, I think Tinted Windows is a really good pop record that contains some fabulous pop songs like Nothing To Me, Kind Of A Girl, Messing With My Head and Take Me Back. Surely there are a couple of average tunes that maybe feel like leftovers, but pop albums that don’t contain any mediocre songs are a really rare treat.
Tinted Windows Website
Tinted Windows at myspace
By the way. Am I the only one or does Taylor’s voice remind you of Super Deluxe’s Braden Blake occasionally. Especially on Doncha Wanna. But what about Take Me Back? He sounds so freakin’ familiar in the chorus, but I can’t get the band and/or vocalist to my head.
