The drummer’s certainly lost a bit of weight, hasn’t he?…
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[6.00]
David Raposa: Hanson as 21st century Hall & Oateses (before H2O set sail on the new wave)? I can dig it.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The intro organ lick is fun, and they’ve matured nicely into healthy, well-nourished, adjusted composers of cornflake commercial jingles, which is what this “What’d I Say” rip evokes.
[3]
Chuck Eddy: Wow, I thought these tykes had grown up to be a quasi-Black Crowes jam band by now. Quasi-Motown George Michael nostalgia suits them way better, judging from this — which basically sounds how Maroon 5 might, if they were any good. Totally rooting for them now to get their first hit in a decade (in the U.S., that is — their chart run apparently lasted way longer in the U.K.? Weird.)
[6]
Martin Skidmore: I was going to say something about their being back, but it turns out they’ve never been away. This sounds as if it is about to turn into a stomper reminiscent of old Stax records, but while it does build, it stays on the edge of really blowing up. The singing is bright, when it isn’t trying to be rawk, but the guitar and piano breaks are pretty dismal. I like it, but it feels an inch from being terrific.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: Maybe it’s hypocritical, or simply nostalgic, of me to like this much more than Maroon fucking 5’s latest whatever, but it can boast a fuller arrangement (horns are always worth a couple of points on their own), an actually funky beat, and a singer who’s got some grit to go with his shriek. It’s still pretty generic, but in case anyone needs whiteboy pop-funk made in 2010, here it is.
[6]
Al Shipley: They’re good at stirring up a buoyant, infectious sound and atmosphere, but somehow the tune isn’t sticking with me.
[6]
Anthony Easton: Hanson is the great lost genius of 90s pop –like we all thought the world was going along to Cobain, and it decided to follow these boys instead — so this classic slice of 70s inspired bubble gum, reminds us of how they won… but it confuses what the prize was.
[7]