What exactly is “new school power pop”? Before listening to The Click Five, I didn’t know either. The quintet combines guitar with catchy and harmonic melodies in their debut album, Greetings From Imrie House, to create this pop-rock sound.

Most of the band’s members found their compatibility with each other in an apartment building, the Imrie House, hence the name of the album. The band members studied at Massachusetts’ Berklee School of Music. They were all in different bands at the time, but came together when they realized their chemistry. Drummer Joey Zehr recruited his childhood friend, Eric Dill, who became their frontman.

Bassist Ethan Mentzer said, “I like songs that are so catchy that you wake up in the morning with them in your head.” This is true of Greetings From Imrie House. That happened to me with “Just the Girl,” their debut single and video, but it wasn’t a bad thing. The song mixes guitar and melody perfectly. They’ve worked with Paul Stanley of Kiss and the result was “Angel to You (Devil to Me)”—a more rock, yet still melodic song, and my favorite on the album.

Other songs, like “Good Day,” also mixed rock and vocals decently. “Pop Princess,” however, was a major disappointment. Lyrics like “Baby girl I think you’re radical but you’re a star and I’m fanatical” and “baby turn your love up loud” was a complete disappointment for me—so disappointing that it hurt the rest of the album. Even with the funky retro sound, the entire song was too idolizing and desperate for my liking. Most of the songs seemed to be about love and loss of love—music that was heartfelt, yet repetitive.

Overall, I’d give the album a rating of a 5 or a 6. Though it wasn’t torture to listen to, I wouldn’t put it on over my Dresden Dolls or Rocky Horror Soundtrack. The sound fits a younger audience, and I can see why Mr. Battaglini’s daughter, Peyton, loved it. I would recommend it primarily as a gift to an elementary or middle school student. It definitely fits the “power pop” feel though: the lyrics and melody of a pop song with a film of rock guitar.