A Review of Hanson's Shout it Out

Hanson's 2010 follow-up to The Walk is a prime example of band growth and evolution. Shout It Out has a funky, piano-jive feel to it. It's a different sound and lyric experience than with their previous albums, and yet still authentically Hanson. Filled with more upbeat tracks than its predecessor, the album is reminiscent of 1950's big-band pop, with brassy trumpets, saxophone breakdowns and foot stomping rhythms. Tracks like "Thinkin' 'Bout Somethin'," "Give A Little," and "And I Waited" just beg you to clap and sing along. Where The Walk tells a somewhat sad story, Shout It Out is the high-energy recovery album.

So many of the tracks, such as "Kiss Me When You Come Home, "and "Make it Out Alive," are uplifting and positive, with messages of requited and unconditional love. Even "Thinkin' 'Bout Somethin'" which is essentially the story of one who was scorned in love but ready to move on is in its own right uplifting. How could it not be, when the music video is largely made up of a diverse group of people dancing in the streets? Many of the tracks feel related to ska, with up-swinging beats and fanfare brass. Others are a throw-back to the "Mmmbop" pop, Coke commercial atmosphere; a have fun and let loose "Musical Ride," that's impossible to ignore. One of the album's highlights (and there are many), lumped in the middle of the track list is "Use Me Up," a lover's lament of sorts, begging for attention, because "nothing can be worse than numb." Every song evokes an emotion, a feeling that can only come from good writing and good music.

Shout It Out succeeds on so many levels. The lyrics and musicianship are undeniably genius. Their music, particularly this album, has such an authenticity. In no way does it feel manufactured. Pick up the liner notes and you'll read "Produced, Written and Performed by Hanson;" that's a rarity in this era of music. The album shows so much growth, both in the stories they tell, and in the music. Horns were almost nowhere to be seen on any other Hanson album, but they run rampant through this one, showing the band's willingness to try something new. That's evolution. Shout it Out is an exclamation and a declaration; this is real music, SHOUT IT OUT.