By Jessica Ganga
Social Media Editor
Move over, One Direction, and make way for the newest band to land on the U.S. charts. 5 Seconds of Summer (referred to as 5SOS by fans) is an upcoming young band from Sydney, Australia that has captured the hearts of millions of teenage girls.
The boys got their start when lead singer, Luke Hemmings, began posting covers of songs on YouTube. His friends and now bandmates — bassist Calum Hood and guitarist Michael Clifford — eventually joined him. Once drummer Ashton Irwin joined the group, they began playing small gigs in the Sydney area.
Their YouTube videos attracted the attention of One Direction bandmates Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, who were huge fans. 5SOS rose to international fame after embarking on One Direction’s “Take Me Home Tour” in 2013, and this past summer, they toured with One Direction again for their “Where We Are Tour.”
Their first album, “5 Seconds of Summer,” was released in July of 2014 in the U.S. and hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart after the first week of sales. If you pick up the album and give it a listen, you’ll understand why these boys aren’t just popular for their good looks. They’re a talented group that plays their own instruments. Don’t let the fact that they’ve toured with One Direction stop you from giving their music a try.
With influences like famous punk bands Blink 182 and Green Day, you can already get a feel for how each track may sound. But if you’re expecting to hear songs like “All the Small Things” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” you may be disappointed. The boys are able to put a young spin on the pop-punk genre, making their music more relatable for the younger audience while still attracting the older fans with their punk background.
“She Looks So Perfect” is the band’s hit single off the album, breaking the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. It’s a fun, energetic song that you will definitely have on repeat once you start listening to it. The song is sprinkled with catchy lyrics, such as when Hemmings sings in the chorus, “You look so perfect standing there / in my American Apparel underwear.” (Queue screaming girls everywhere.)
“Amnesia” is another well-known song off the album — a little different but equally lovable. The boys trade in their electric guitars for acoustics, giving it a different sound but with the same level of emotion. If you missed the MTV Video Music Awards this year, the band performed the song live, and it’s definitely a performance to see.
I’m also a fan of some of the group’s lesser-known songs like “18” and “End Up Here.” “18” is one of the songs off the album where you can hear the similarities between the band and their musical influences. Again, it’s no classic Green Day song, but like “She Look So Perfect,” the lyrics are fun and geared toward teens. “End Up Here” is, in my opinion, the song in which you can hear the most overt pop-punk influences and a moment where Hemmings’s vocal talent truly shines.
5SOS has a successful future ahead of them, and if their albums to come are anything like this one, they may be sticking around for a while.
