The calendar reads June. The temperatures, even here in New England, are starting to warm up, though they don't seem to be rising as fast as gas prices. The college kids have left town, and soon, the other kids will be out of school for summer. Summer movie season is in full swing (on that note, thank God for Harry Potter, damn that movie rocked), and radio stations are looking for the big summer pop song of 2004. It looks right now like it could be The Counting Crows Accidently in Love, though there are certainly other contenders. And yet, the band that perhaps wrote a whole album of summertime pop tunes is being all but ignored by both MTV, VH1, and adult and mainstream top 40 radio.

Call it an MmmmmBackLash.

Hanson, the trio of brothers from Oklahoma, annoyed oh so many people with their 1997 sugary pop hit MmmBop, and unfortunately for them, it has painted them into a corner with radio and video stations throughout the country. This despite an album from 2000 (This Time Around) that showed the band growing immensely as songwriters and a successful sold out acoustic club tour last summer. Despite all this, Hanson found themselves without a record deal from a major. It truly makes you wonder why certain bands are signed and this one isn't.

Last month, Hanson released their first album in four years, titled Underneath. It is the full circle realization of the aforementioned acoustic club tour and the release of the Underneath Acoustic EP on their website last year. Here, many of the songs from that EP are given arrangements that are more fleshed out, resulting in an album that stands high above every other pop release of the year thus far.

The first single, Penny and Me, is an exceptional preview of what's to come. Solid vocal harmonies color a chorus that is as much notable for the swirling guitars as it is for the vocal hook. In short, it is a near perfect pop song, with each instrument sounding crisp and the vocals right up front.

Strong Enough to Break leads off the album sounding very similarly to the version found on the Acoustic EP. Musically, there's a lot going on in the background of this song, what with mini guitars, B3 organs, and congas. That being said, they all add some spice to the song and make it a much more enjoyable song than a basic strumming guitar and vocals song. Perhaps most interesting is the bit of feedback that leads directly leads into the next song, Dancin' in the Wind.

Extremely upbeat with production that screams "play me while you drive down the highway in the summertime," the song is a bit of a different direction for the band. Dare I say it, that Hanson actually rocks out quite a bit on this song? Isaac Hanson lays down a really nice guitar solo, and Zak, the little drummer boy, asserts himself with excellent cymbal work.

I really like what the group did with Hey, which retains its upbeat pop sheen while managing to sound a bit more grown up than the version on the Acoustic EP. Lyrically, it might be the most silly thing on the album, but it is one of those songs that is just too catchy not too like.

It isn't all upbeat though. There are some monstrous ballads here, and I don't mean the type of songs that would appear on a Monster Ballads CD. I mean the type of ballads that most bands wouldn't be able to write if their lives depended on it. Most notable is When You're Gone, which does not find strings added in as I suggested in my review of the Acoustic EP, but there is a B3 organ which creates much the same effect of making the song sound huge and dramatic. And it's not so much that it just sounds huge and dramatic, it IS huge and dramatic, replete with lines that seem to touch on the impact of being on the road AND being the most hated teenagers on the planet.

Perhaps the biggest improvement both in arrangement and performance from the EP is Deeper. Whereas it sounded forced on the EP, here it sounds brisk and free. The song has plenty of room to breathe, and Isaac's lead vocals reveal that he has quite a bit of soul deep down inside.

Underneath isn't a full on success, though it's not far off; some moments don't live up to the truly great songs on here, such as Get Up and Go, which is fun but it feels more like filler than anything else. Thankfully, songs like the smile inducing Crazy Beautiful more than make up for this.

While adult top 40 is blowing their wad over Maroon 5, and regular top 40 is espousing the supposed virtues of the new Avril Lavigne record, Hanson has made a pop album that is truly deserving of your attention. It's too bad their past success will virtually guarantee that this album will not be the sales success it so richly deserves to be. 4.5 stars, which we'll round up to 5.

More on Hanson:

Underneath Acoustic (EP)

This Time Around

Recommended: Yes