I will admit that when I heard about the new, dreamy teen music sensation, 5 Seconds of Summer, I ignorantly dismissed them as a boy band like One Direction. The only song I knew by them was that stupid American Apparel underwear song, and it was everywhere. It was on every radio station, playing in every mall or store. It was all I heard at work. I was sick of it.
So when my best friend, Julie, told me to take the night off of work to go see the band affectionately known as 5SOS (Five-sauce) with her, I rolled my eyes a lot. “I am not a boy band kind of fan-girl.” I insisted as we sat in traffic to get into Camden.
I was even less enthused when we got to the venue, where there were thousands of girls ranging from 8-years-old to their teens and beyond. I saw exhausted looking dads who were making the same faces as I as we walked through the girls decked out in 5SOS apparel and had neon posters that said, “I <3 Luke.”
This was not the typical concert I was used to.
“They’re not a boy band. You’ll like them, I swear,” Julie claimed as we settled into our seats.
“Yeah sure,” I waved dismissively. I was here for a fun summer evening with my best friend, nothing more.
I didn’t expect to fall in love with yet another band.
5 Seconds of Summer is not a boy band. They’re actually far from it. And while it may have started like that with touring underneath One Direction, that’s not the case right now. With influences from Green Day and Blink-182 (punk gods), the Aussie foursome is a lot more pop-punk than boy band. Think of them as a younger All Time Low.
Not to mention, I usually think of boy bands as a group of good-looking guys who sing and dance a little on stage. 5 Seconds of Summer is a group of good-looking guys who sing and play their instruments on stage. Yes, they play their own instruments! Not to mention they write their own music, so double kudos to them for that.
If you’re a fan girl like me and tend to know everything about a band and have seen every video that’s out there (I’m not talking about just the music videos), then you can usually tell when a band is generally a group of good-hearted people. If you just look at the behind the scenes videos or look up “funniest moments,” these guys are like any other band who’s just trying to make their dreams come true by touring the world and playing some good music with their best friends. These guys are funny. They’re genuine. They’re a bunch of 19 and 20-year-olds goofing off and sending a positive message to their younger fans. You can’t fault anyone who’s trying to make a little good in the world.
While their fan base still consists of One-Directioners alike, they’ve captured the hearts of people like me whose music taste is firmly rooted in the metal/punk genres. The pop punk community, for the people that seriously give 5 Seconds of Summer a chance, is slowly accepting them.
Their newest album, "Sounds Good Feels Good," is their sophomore debut featuring licks similar to Duran Duran and My Chemical Romance, with some darker lyrics and angst-related songs instead of the normal ballads about the girl next door. Pop punk is all about the angst, and 5SOS has done a job well done creating an album for fans dealing with anxiety, depression, and heartbreak.
