[2.5/5] Pop music can be a surprisingly sticky wicket: Write great pop songs, and you've got a legitimate shot at joining the Billboard big boys; write good pop songs, and you become the perpetual next big thing. Since their 2004 indie debut Everyday Behavior, some important folks have obviously decided that Orange County-born piano-pop quartet Mêlée are capable of writing great pop songs-hence the ensuing major-label bidding war and the band's deal with Warner in 2005-but right now, they're just writing good ones. The glossy, Howard Benson-produced Devils & Angels goes down as smoothly as a McDonald's milkshake, but fades from memory nearly as quickly, even though genuinely charming moments like the driving "For A Lifetime" and sweeping ballad "She's Gonna Find Me Here" hint at much more. Devils establishes Mêlée as exactly what they are-unproven rookies in the power-pop big leagues-but when you consider it, that's really not such a bad place to start. (WARNER BROS.) Brendan Manley
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