popular thinking

THE CLICK FIVE COME HOME: We managed to update the print version of my latest story on The Click Five to show that the band's first single, "Just The Girl," jumped to No. 21 on the Billboard charts. But the online version still reflects last week's chart position. Oh well. Fun to talk to keyboardist Ben Romans again. The last time I saw him, he had just finished a manic performance with the boys at Axis nightclub on Lansdowne Street. They're playing to much bigger crowds now. At any rate, let's get to the story. Although it was highly amusing this past weekend to see the Globe's big story on the band completely misidentify Ben (not as amusing for Ben and bassist Ethan Mentzer, of course). Such is life in a competitive media environment.

The Click Five find it's good to be `Girl'-y men (Boston Herald)

Two months ago, Watertown-based power popsters the Click Five were promising unknowns. They didn't even have a single out, yet industry buzz predicted major success for Eric, Joe, Ethan, Ben and Joey.
Look at 'em now.
The band's first single, "Just The Girl,'' is such a catchy confection that it's the second most popular song on iTunes, No. 7 on MTV's "TRL,'' No. 28 on pop radio and No. 21 on the Billboard chart.
And Click Five is touring with the Backstreet Boys, a stint that ends with Sunday's show at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield. Then it's off to New York City to tape an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, then back home for two Hub events Tuesday to celebrate the release of the band's debut disc, "Greetings From Imrie House,'' which references the Click Five's days in Allston as Berklee College of Music students.
"I'm going to freak out,'' said keyboardist/songwriter Ben Romans, anticipating the band's network TV coming-out party.
Their fans, many of them young and female, already freak out at a mere glimpse of the boys.
When the Click Five performed two months ago at Axis, girls screamed throughout the hourlong set. Afterward, fans, some wearing handmade Click Five shirts, quickly formed a long line to meet their favorite band members.
"It's weird, because it doesn't seem like two months,'' Romans said. "Once you get on a tour, a big one like this one, you snap into a zone and forget about time and everything else.''
Such is the Click Five's success that three weeks ago the band got its first tour bus, complete with drummer Joey Zehr's GameCube, two TVs, beds and plenty of room to jam and write songs.
"We graduated from the minivan and I'm sleeping,'' Romans said. "It's fantastic!''
The guys recognize that their fast track to stardom is atypical. Less than two years ago, they were playing in different bands and lead singer Eric Dill was living in Indianapolis. Not that long ago, they had a residency gig at the Paradise Lounge and weren't even the most popular act in the building.
Now Dill, Zehr, Romans, guitarist Joe Guese and bassist Ethan Mentzer play for thousands offans each night, many of whom already know the words to their unreleased songs.
"It's not a normal lifestyle,'' Romans said. "In some ways, we're normal guys. We realize we're put in this crazy situation, so you really have to roll with it at times.''
The band's stage show looks like something from the early Beatles, with the Five's matching suits, manic presence and early 1960s haircuts.
Its full-length debut on Lava Records has drawn comparisons to Fountains of Wayne and The Cars - both apt, because Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger wrote "Just The Girl'' and The Cars' Elliot Easton added a guitar solo to "Angel to You (Devil to Me)," which Romans co-wrote with Paul Stanley of KISS.
The band's manager, Wayne Sharp, introduced the band to Stanley over Thanksgiving dinner.
Last summer, Stanley showed up at a Click Five club gig.
"Everybody's jaw just dropped,'' Romans recalled. "He gave us a lot of pointers about our stage show. There's not a better person in terms of stage presence.''
The Click Five open for the Backstreet Boys on Sunday at the Tweeter Center. Tuesday at 2 p.m., the band appears at an in-store signing atat Newbury Comics, 332 Newbury St., Boston, followed by an 8 p.m. show at the Middle East, Cambridge. Tickets are $15. Call 617-864-EAST or go to www.ticketmaster.com

Official band site: The Click Five