Jack’s Mannequin, a side project of Something Corporate’s Andrew McMahon, will headline Pinestock 2008 — supposedly.

With a blend of prettypiano melodies, pulsing drums and meaningful lyrics, Jack’s Mannequin’s debutalbum “Everything in Transit” shows great crowd-pleasing potential. You can’t help but get the power pop melodies stuck in your head.

The album starts strong with the song “Holiday from Real” and keeps on going. The second track, “The Mixed Tape,” deserves the acclaim it receives as the first single off the record and Jack’s Mannequin’s most recognized track. The song’s building energy will have you singing along until the frenzied drum beat culminates into a crash of waves.

“I’m Ready” continues the momentum but is hindered by McHahon’s spoken word parts. Spoken word is usually not a good idea, and doesn’t fit here. “Bruised” has a guitar riff that has an Angels and Airwaves vibe. “Rescued” contains a great piano melody.

Instrumentally, this album is very developed using piano, guitar, bass, drums and even harmonica on “La La Lie.”

Interesting lyrics are not on short supply on this album. “I deconstruct my thoughts at this piano” and “as I watch the stars become the day” are just a few of the insightful lyrics embedded in the song, “Into the Airwaves.”

Witty lyrics coax the listener to laugh in “La La Lie.” McMahon talks about when he went to the movies with a lover and “every scene was a sign, we made out through their meaning.”

McMahon does something new in “MFEO: Pt. 1: Made for Each Other/Pt. 2: You Can Breathe.” By using the drum as a pulse and repeating the lyrics, he entices the reader to chant along. Parts 1 and 2 end up intertwining in the end: “And maybe we were made for each other/ You can breathe, but the air is running out.”

The album’s second single, “Dark Blue,” will be stuck in your head for days. Most of the lyrics were very strong. “Have you ever been alone in a crowded room/well I’m here with you” is a comforting line. Forgive and forget “We were boxing the stars/you were swinging for Mars” lyric. Like “The Mixed Tape,” “Dark Blue” has a pulse, almost as if the song were alive. The layering of voices and the echoing effect sounds perfect.

But every talent-packed album has kinks to be worked out. Songs lacking meaning such as “Miss Delaney” and “Kill the Messenger” are better left reworked or off the album.

The lyrics, “Rain to leave you all alone that keeps eyelashes falling and wishes washed away” and the refreshing break down at the end of “Kill the Messenger” almost save it from the cemetery.

Nonsensical lyrics and an out of place sung/spoken verse doom “Miss Delaney.”

Jack’s Mannequin’s great melodies and insightful lyrics are the reason the band’s second album is one of the most anticipated of the year in the January 2008 issue of Alternative Press. The buzz created by the first album will hopefully spill into Pinestock’s crowds and inspire them to feel a pulse.

This is the opinion of Catherine Jensen, a CSB first-year.