via//chicago

np: "Kind of a Girl" - Tinted Windows

The mere existence of this band is definitely one of 2009's most WTF musical moments so far. I was tempted to type something about "supergroup" in that sentence, but I think that would be stretching the definition of "super" to the thinnest of extents. It certainly is a group though, quite a group of random musicians. On guitars you've got James Iha, a dude who was smart enough to stay way the hell away from Corgan's shitstorm of a Pumpkins reunion. Then, on bass, you've got Adam Schlesinger of power-poppers extraordinaire, Fountains of Wayne. The connection between the two makes tons of sense since the pair of them, along with wayward former Pumpkins bassist D'arcy, established indie label Scratchie Records back in 1995. Now this is where things get a little weird. The drummer for Tinted Windows is none other than Bun E. Carlos. Yes, THAT Bun E. Carlos, him of Cheap Trick. Some strange cross-generation pollination going on here, but the Pumpkins played with Cheap Trick a couple times and they have that whole Chicago connection going on - so I can get with that. But what throws me for a loop is the vocalist these guys selected... Taylor Hanson. Yessir, the middle Hanson brother. Do the syllables "Mmm" and "Bop" ring any bells? WTF, right?

The bigger WTF, after hearing the self-titled debut album, is that they actually crank out some better than decent power pop. Unsurprisingly, as much as I love Fountains of Wayne, the songs written by Schlesinger (especially the opening run of tracks 1-4) are among my favorites on first blush. They fare much better when they stay away from the gloopy mid-tempo tracks, but Tinted Windows is a successful, breezy summer sun pop album. And you can never have too many of those. Check out the lead single...