Well, they say imitation is the sincierest form of flatery. And they don't come more flatering than this. The time spent to copy and clone the work of the artist in question must have taken a while; not to mention the exsentise look into pulling it together to give it it's own 'Hanson twist'; as they do with all sincere covers.
No; I'm not talking about Christina. I'm talking about their tribute to the mellow, smooth, all out rockin' (not to mention Scottish) band Travis to whom they are really thanking for being 'such a great influence'. Yes Travis, whilst messing around with a guitar the night before a gig (no doubt enfussed with alcohol), started playing the tune to 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. Their promoter heard their rendition and urged them to play it the next night. It was an all-out hit. Audiences would be straining to hear just what on earth their favourite indie band were playing; only to realise that it was the tune they had trying to escape from it's over-commericalised airtime wherever they went. Though it was a mockery, the thing that made it so outstanding was that it made it to be an actually powerful and emotional song of heartbreak (much like how the Beegee's happy song 'Tragedy' was turned into a real, well, tragedy when it was played in the musicial 'Saturday Night Fever').
The torch has now been passed down and this time it's a band who many find it hard to split away from radio-made pop. What's so great about Hanson 'doing a Travis' is that they are saying 'we are no longer affiliated with Britney!'. And prove it they do with a mellow, bongo-tastic, smooth ride through 'Dirrty'; a song that screams rebelious pop with a 'new age sound' to boot.
Now to be honest; I like Christina. If you've listened to 'Stripped' you'll know that 'Dirrty' is probably the song that sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the soul-based melodies and sexy-rockin' tunes that make you want to scream 'grrrr I'm a woman BITCH!'. I don't think we needed road signs to know Hanson weren't into Christina and what better song to display their love for Travis than one that has been overplayed and looks impossible to bring some class to it (much less an acoustic guitar?) And that being said Hanson do a pretty bang-up job at their cover. Like Travis they make it a whole new song that sounds more like something they would write rather than the original artists (or whoever wrote them) and while using the tune and lyrics; it's blended into a pretty damned good song on it's own which you'd probably praise the bands for had they not heard the originals.
They're just one problem; because this wasn't made on a whime, mucking about on the bus with a bottle of whiskey- you know what Hanson are up to. They were being serious about this cover and yes, although the final piece is an all-out barrel of laughs it all seems a bit too put together to settle me. I mean don't get me wrong I love their cover and find it as hilarious as the next fan out to laugh with them, but it's just that because I know it's a tribute and not a cover; it seems all that effort was indeed manufactured itself.
Eerie right? They made this as a joke to the fake, tacky pop world and instead flipped it so it looks like they've manufactured something themselves. But that doesn't mean I won't play it on repeat giggling to myself as they sing 'sweating till my clothes come off' until the time comes when I forget the original and think they wrote it. But then that'll probably mean I'd have forgotten Christina. And you can't forget the girl in that skirt...