Anyone who's been in central London recently must have noticed the rash of posters for this new musical, written by former Busted musician James Bourne (several of the songs are taken from Welcome to Loserville, the 2005 album he made with his post-Busted band, Son of Dork) and writer/composer Elliot Davis. Love Grease or Glee, the posters shout, and you can't fail to love Loserville.

With new musicals notoriously difficult to launch, it's no wonder the marketing has been intense for the show, which arrives in London following its first professional airing at Leeds's West Yorkshire Playhouse. But it also makes it difficult to view it as much more than a cynical attempt to cash in on the lucrative craze for high school-set shows with songs.

So, naturally, our setting is an American high school. It's 1971 and the aptly named Michael Dork (Aaron Sidwell) and his computer-geek friends are attempting to send the first ever email. Enter Holly (Eliza Hope Bennett), the beautiful new girl in school. She's planning on becoming the first American woman in space – and she might just be able to help Michael crack that code.

Francis O'Connor's superb design makes the most of the show's geek-chic aesthetic – the set is a huge microchip – and there are some standout performances among the young cast, particularly from Stewart Clarke as the arrogant jock, Eddie. But there are too many toe-curling moments – do we really need a pair of vacuous, blonde "Yugoslavian" girls who talk like Yoda? The relentless pop-rock score is also over-loud and affords too little variation of pace and tone; it quickly proves wearisome.