Click Five’s engaging hooks

There is no way that people out there who listen to local Top 40 radio have not heard Jenny. The new single by The Click Five (TCF) from the album Modern Minds and Pastimes is the most played song in the airwaves these days. This bodes well for the group from Boston. The Click Five came up with its crucial second album during a less than opportune time. Predictions about the future of Modern Minds and Pastimes were not good and to this day, there remain a few obstacles to surmount as the album makes its way to the top.

First off, The Click Five is a pop boy band and this does not seem to be a good time for boy bands. The Backstreet Boys have grown old and I do not see any promising group of that type in the hit charts. Maybe TCF can fill up this vacuum. But then the young girls who usually make up the bulk of the followers of boy bands are busy these days with either High School Musical on one hand or Fall Out Boy in the other.

Then there is also the fact that Modern Minds and Pastimes is The Click Five’s second album. We know how important that is. Get big with your first but miss with the second and you become a one hit wonder who will be doing nostalgia concerts 10 years from now. But make a hit with the second and it becomes only a few small steps to get to the third, the fourth and many more.

And to top it all The Click Five is presenting to the public a new vocalist, which also means a new sound. Many doubtless remember the group from three years ago with the exciting Greetings from Imrie House. Back then it was made up of Joe Guese on vocals and lead guitar; Ben Romans on keyboards and vocals; Ethan Mentzer on bass and vocals; Joey Zehr on drums and vocals; and Eric Dill on vocals and rhythm guitar. With hit singles like Just the Girl and Catch Your Wave, it looked like The Click Five had stardom made in a big way. But when it came time to release the second album, Dill was out and replaced by Kyle Patrick.

Modern Minds and Pastimes is not Imrie House and maybe by design or because of the new vocalist, the sound is totally different. Not only different but better. Patrick’s vocals are fuller, deeper and more mature. It also helps that he is quite a looker. The music is definitely pop with engaging hooks, bright arrangements and crisply laid out uptempo choruses. Imrie House was a youthful explosion but it belongs to 2005. Modern Minds and Pastimes is now. It is well-made and commercial, you can’t help but hope that TCF would be able to overcome all those snags and reach stardom big time.

The first single out is of course, the now ubiquitous Jenny. The rocker Flipside should make a good second, but knowing how sentimental Pinoys are with their music, I have a feeling that the next choice around here would be the emo ballad Mary Jane. The other songs included are Happy Birthday, Addicted to Me, I’m Getting Over You, When I’m Gone, Headlight Disco, The Reason Why, All I Need is You, Long Way to Go and Empty.

The video of Jenny is also doing well on local TV. It is now ranked No. 3 in the MYX International Top 20 videos for the week. Leading the tabulation is You are the Music in Me by the cast of High School Musical 2 (HSM2) followed by What Time Is It? also by the cast of HSM2; Jenny by The Click Five; Wait for You by Elliott Yamin; Bleed It Out by Linkin Park; Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston; The Take Over The Break’s Over by Fall Out Boy; When You’re Gone by Avril Lavigne; Misery Business by Paramore; Wake Up Call by Maroon 5; Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus; Teenagers by My Chemical Romance; Umbrella by Rihanna; Stolen by Dashboard Confessional; Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie; Sorry Blame It on Me by Akon; Bartender by T-Pain; and How Do I Breathe by Mario.