Greetings from Imrie House (by The Click Five, Pop)

GREETINGS FROM IMRIE HOUSE is a friendly, guitar-fueled power-pop confection whipped up by four talented guys. Lyrics are tween-safe with a little wink-wink, nudge-nudge sexual innuendo on "Friday Night" and a couple of references to prescription drugs. Earning their rock & roll stripes as the opening act for the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Jesse McCartney, Click Five have a way with a musical hook and a resolutely retro sensibility. The songs are as cute as can be, if a little self-conscious and unimaginative. Eric Dill, the lead singer, has one of those odd nasal voices that can be effective on many of the tunes, but often verges on a paint-scraper whine. Joe Guese carries most of the predictable tunes with excellent lead guitar work. Everyone turns in fine performances, enjoyable if lacking originality.

Four members of Click Five attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music and the fifth is from Purdue. Knowing this about the band raises our expectations -- if we didn't know that these guys were elite-music-school alumni, maybe we wouldn't care so much that they've turned in performances that are pleasant and fun, but far from brilliant. Appealing and clean-cut, '60s-retro-styled to the max, the Click Five offer what amounts to musical Redi-whip. But it will be interesting to see how these undoubtedly talented guys grow as artists on future albums.

Released on: September 16, 2005
Label: Lava
Genre: Pop