Breaking all the Windows

MUSIC. Adam Schlesinger isn’t afraid to say it — Tinted Windows is a dorky band name.

“It was just kind of a dumb name that stuck early on,” he explains. “It’s a little cheesy, sounds like a cover band or something.”

But a little hokeyness is something to be expected from the guy who co-wrote “Stacey’s Mom.” Currently on hiatus from Fountains of Wayne, Schlesinger has teamed with singer Taylor Hanson (of Hanson, “MmmmmBop” fame), James Iha (ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick’s drummer) to form a modern-day supergroup of sorts. But just don’t let Schlesinger hear you call them that.

“We never really thought of ourselves as a supergroup,” he says. “That definitely wasn’t a part of our motivation for doing it. I don’t think that anybody in this group is so hugely famous that it really has that much bearing on the band. If you’re talking about a group like the Traveling Wilburys, you know, Bob Dylan was in that group and a Beatle was in that group. That’s an actual supergroup. We’re just four musicians who wanted to make a record together.”

While the band, whose sound is replete with power-pop hooks that reference Carlos’ Cheap Trick,  is playing a few dates in the U.S., Schlesinger implies that Tinted Windows will never be a full-time gig.

“I don’t think anybody was looking to be out on tour for 18 months,” he says. “We just really wanted to make some music together. It just seemed like an interesting combination of people and seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Tinted Windows
Tonight, 9
Highline Ballroom
431 W. 16th St.
$25, 212-414-5994
www.highlineballroom.com