by Velouria.

Standing in line with hordes of prepubescent girls to see Hanson at D.C.'s Warner Theatre last Thursday reminded me of my own teen years. I was the Doc Marten wearing, Pixies and Smiths worshipping, indie chick in High School who loathed anything Top 40. I looked down my music snob nose at the tow-headed cheerleader types who idolized Debbie Gibson and Richard Marx. My hatred for all things pop has stuck with me through Milli Vanilli, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, and the unending string of peroxide-enhanced, vocally challenged Barbie dolls from Samantha Fox to Hillary Duff. I keep waiting for pop to die, but every time I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel, the major-label driven pop train runs right over me, filling my head with annoyingly catchy drivel.

The problem is this: the major labels, who used to take chances with new sounds, can no longer afford to do so. The majors are consolidating and downsizing at unprecedented rates and big spenders, like L.A. Reid, recently squeezed out of the now defunct Arista Records, are being replaced with more fiscally conservative business types. The labels make a quick and sizable profit off of pop stars with little investment in production or artist development. Taking a risk on a talented band with the potential for staying power is no longer attractive to the labels because it doesn't fit in with this new formulaic business model. It's much easier and cheaper to package no-talent pretty people as pop stars or even "alternative" pop-stars (see Maroon 5) than to actually look for and develop real talent.

So is there any hope? The outcome largely depends on whether major labels continue to dominate the pop market or if indies will be able to break through. Indies have always been able to compete in the alternative scene, but pop is typically driven by massive marketing campaigns, which only the majors can afford. Enter Hanson, a band who began as the ultimate in bubble-gum but recently made the bold step of ditching their major label deal with Island/Def Jam and releasing their latest album Underneath on their own imprint, 3CG. They also write their own songs and play their own instruments, in today’s world that's enough to get me to use a free ticket to check them out. OK, granted, you'll never catch me jamming to Hanson on my iPod, but I went to their show hoping to find evidence that pop music may be evolving.

So I checked my indie cred at the door and entered the Warner Theatre only to be immediately engulfed by the sea of raging hormones and the distinct smell of flavored lip gloss. This was uncharted territory for me. As hard as it may be to believe, my friends and I never found Morrissey or Frank Black even remotely attractive, so as a teenager I never experienced a live show so completely driven by sexual energy. The crowd flowed with the hip-gyration of Tyler (21), the faux-punk antics of Mohawk-coifed Isaac (23) and the on beat pounding of Zac (18) and ebbed only occasionally to catch its collective breath. I have to admit, this fraternal trio from Oklahoma with their sweet faces and golden hair looked like they had just jumped out of a Raphael fresco. Taylor was downright hot, an Adonis. But you can't hate them because they are beautiful. These guys also proved their worth as capable musicians.

Isaac exhibited a surprising talent on the guitar and belted out a couple of one-note solos that would have made Neil Young proud. Taylor's piano playing was impressive if not overshadowed by his charismatic performance style. Taylor is simply a force, combining his own magnetic personality with Elvis-like hips, the pigeon-toed foot dance of Dave Matthews, the reckless abandon of Jim Morrison and the calculated bedroom eyes of Justin Timberlake. But what makes Hanson a solid power-pop band is their flawless vocal harmonies. There's something magical about harmonizing brothers; like the Beach Boys and the Bee Gees, their connection takes them to another level. This fact is not lost on harmony-junkie and alt-rocker Matthew Sweet, who is such a big fan of Hanson that he co-wrote the title track of their latest album Underneath. One of the biggest surprises of the night was a cover of the Spenser Davis Group's Gimmie Some Lovin', which, frankly, rocked.

No, Hanson will not be the savior of music, but they may signal a changing of the tide. They prove that you can be pop without over-production, over-synthesizing and rehashed harmonies and that you can do it all without major-label machinery. They have broken into the upper echelons of the Billboard charts and have even managed to get airtime on the non-indie-label-friendly MTV. They will probably never be the next Beatles, but they may pave the way for the band that will be. And hopefully one day those crazy screaming girls will appreciate what that means for them as music fans.