Modern Minds and Pastimes, on the other hand, marks a break with the group’s only non-Berklee member, lead singer Dill, who was kicked out in November, after the recording sessions for a second album had stalled out. “It was the clichéd story of differences within the band,” says Ethan. Fellow Berklee student Kyle Patrick joined in February, and his deeper voice moves the group sound from emo-lite into straight modern rock laced with vaguely ’80s flourishes (instead of the other way around, as hipsters from the Killers to Interpol do it). Although the disc’s second half drags, the first part demonstrates real growth for Romans and Mentzer. They still collaborate with big guns like Chris Braide, author of Clay Aiken’s “Invisible,” but they also now write with like-minded newcomers they’ve befriended from Berklee to London. (Be among the first few hundred to check out the MySpace pages of Jez Ashurst and Nate Campany.) Writing with others or alone, they often play off the bright, rushing music with various shades of loss. You’d almost think the theme had been weighing on their minds.

“Definitely there’s been a lot of relationship struggles with just anyone,” says Zehr. “When your life changes as much as ours did, you go through a lot.

But, as Romans emphasizes, as some relationships fall away, the ones in the band have firmed up. He’s only half joking, after all, when he says that playing with these guys saved his life. “Look at him,” says Patrick. “You think he could be doing something else? He has my hair braided into his! He can’t be at an office and have that!”

Live, their dedication to one another is crisper than their hair gel. The side room at the House of Blues isn’t even half full, but as Romans says to the shrieking crowd of about 150 teen girls (and a few eye-rolling boyfriends), “Just because you’re the smallest crowd we’ve ever played for doesn’t mean you’re not the loudest!” It’s an audience as forgiving of circumstances as the band are. “Kyle’s cute, and he’s a good singer,” said 16-year-old Corinne Saliba of nearby North Royalton. “He’s taller, too, so that’s, uh, useful.” It hardly matters that they play mostly new stuff padded with choice covers by Paul McCartney and Nick Lowe. Of the catchy new single, “Jenny,” 14-year-old Erin Folk from Westlake says, “I wish my name were Jenny.” She giggles, of course — what a clichéd thing to say! But her eyes say she knows I know it’s true.

THE CLICK FIVE | Prudential Center, 111 Huntington Avenue, Boston | July 12 at noon | Free | 617.747.8890