Entertainment > Fans welcome new generation of teen-appeal bands

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Is the music business on the verge of a new boy band explosion? It sure looks that way. But this time the band members are more than charismatic performers: They write much of their material and play their own instruments.

We're calling them "guy groups" to differentiate them from the earlier class of boy bands, best known for their sweet harmonies and smart dance moves.

Another significant difference from their predecessors: Radio isn't necessarily leading the charge for these acts.

The Click Five -- none of whose five members are older than 23 -- debuted last week at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 with "Greetings From Imrie House" and are No. 28 this week. The Berklee School of Music grads wear identical suits and play shiny power pop.

Still ahead are debuts from Barefoot, a five-piece whose sound builds on the Southern California rock style of the '70s, and the Jonas Brothers, three siblings who combine pop and rock a la Hanson. (The comparison is inevitable.)

Barefoot bows November 1 on Joe Simpson's Geffen-distributed imprint, Papa Joe Records, while the Jonas Brothers' album, on Columbia, goes on sale November 22.

"It does seem like this could be the next incarnation of the boy band," Lava Records general manager Lee Trink says.

COMEBACK CONDITIONS

Columbia president Steve Greenberg is loath to call these acts boy bands, instead describing them as "young rock bands." He says the mood is right for a new guy-group wave: "If you look at the teen magazines today, there are very few singers; it's mostly actors. And any time that condition exists, you know the time is right for a comeback of teen music. There aren't enough acts making the music that's appropriate for the teen audience. I noticed the exact same thing in 1996, right before I signed Hanson."

Simpson simply states, "As long as there are girls, we need guy bands. However, in this day, it is not good enough to just sing great. You have to write, sing and play. We want it all."

As evidenced by the Click Five -- who managed the top 15 debut while its radio play is in its early days -- these acts start with a grassroots groundswell driven by the Internet. Click Five's first single, "Just the Girl," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart last week.

"Radio is not the thing leading the charge," Trink says. Instead, the Click Five took off when the band opened for Ashlee Simpson in February. It has since toured with Backstreet Boys and Jesse McCartney, among others.

In the week after Click's first stop on Ashlee's tour, Trink says, the band became "a priority." The first night, the band was "bombarded for autographs. The same thing happened the second night, and we decided they needed security."

MOMENTUM BUILDING

Instead of rushing out the album, Lava decided to let the story continue to build, but it quickly pressed a three-song EP that it is offering alongside the band's merchandise.

For Click bassist Ethan Mentzer, the teen tour has been a blast. "We knew when we started this band that a lot of our appeal was going to be in the teen market. We knew that's who buys records; kids in college burn CDs."

By the time Lava did make the move to radio, there was undeniable proof of the band's popularity. This week, "Just the Girl" is No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Similarly, there is no immediate radio push for the Jonas Brothers. "Radio is part of the plan, but it's not the first stop," Greenberg says of first single "Mandy." Instead, the Internet has been a driving force. In the course of a few weeks, the Jonas Brothers have garnered more than 1,000 "friends" on myspace.com.

"Young people really live on the Internet, and a lot of these bands are being marketed on the Internet -- they're able to bypass the traditional methods," Greenberg says. "In some ways, these young pop acts are being marketed like indie rock bands because the bigger media tends to be more conservative and less open to change."

Barefoot's first single, "Rain," goes to radio this month, but the band is also developing a live following: It will open 12 dates for Ashlee starting September 18.

Reuters/Billboard

2005-09-03