Grade: B+ | At last, a 1997 that doesn’t involve Third Eye Blind or “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”

Chicago’s 1997 is a young, intriguing group featuring a pair of lead vocalists (one male, the other female), agile instrumentation and a batch of killer songs that make up the majority of their debut “A Better View of the Rising Moon.”

The album’s first few songs, “Water’s Edge” and “Garden of Evil,” are chime-filled, cheery affairs sounding like a modern-day take on Joe Jackson material, while songs such as “In Your Car” are practically lifted off of a Jimmy Eat World album. The songwriting may be derivative (although when is it not, these days?), but the melodies are solid with great production pushing all of the instruments to the forefront.

The drum work on the album is undeniably emo-based, as are the clanging, springy guitars, yet the band manages to avoid sounding like other Chicago-based emo acts because of the dual-lead singer roles occupied by Kerri Mack and Kevin Thomas. Mack’s vocals on “In Your Car” and “Grace” are smooth and compelling, becoming even more dramatic when Thomas joins to create fantastic harmonies that take the songs in a more emotional, heart-felt direction.

A very impressive debut, “A Better View” is hopefully only a peek into this quintet’s potential.