Australian band makes pop-punk mainstream
This summer was filled with many new obsessions, like dumping ice on your head and buying more clothes that are originally from the 80s; however, the music scene had a different type of breakout star. Four boys from Sydney, Australia have made their way into the eyes of the public with their self-titled debut album, “5 Seconds of Summer.” More importantly, these boys have brought pop-punk music back onto mainstream radio stations, and even back onto award shows. The band consists of Luke Hemmings (lead vocals/guitar), Michael “Mikey” Clifford (guitar), Calum Hood (bass/vocals), and Ashton Irwin (drums). These 18 and 20-year-old guys have been making their mark on the billboard charts and radio stations around the world.
The album was released in America on July 22, and debuted number one on the Billboard 200 charts. The album opens strong with their incredibly catchy first single, “She Looks So Perfect.” The song is fun to sing along to, beginning with a string of “hey’s” before moving into your typical pop-punk sound. The next song on the album, “Don’t Stop,” is another single released by the band, and it’s just as catchy as the first. At this point, the listener probably realizes that this album is going to be four teenage boys singing about pretty girls in a catchy, but not necessarily lyrically complex, way. This listener’s theory is confirmed when the next songs that follow are called “Good Girls” and “Kiss Me Kiss Me.”
“Kiss Me Kiss Me” was co-written by Alex Gaskarth, the front-man to popular pop-punk group All Time Low. Gaskarth also helped write “End Up Here” and “Long Way Home,” two tracks that show up later on the album. You can definitely hear the influence that Gaskarth had on those three tracks, because they have a very similar vibe compared to most All Time Low’s songs.
“End Up Here” is probably one of the more punk songs on the album. It starts off with a small drum solo, then a slower sung verse. The chorus suddenly breaks out into this faster, stronger part of the song. You get to hear directly about the band’s music taste, one of the lines being “You said you liked my Cobain shirt,” in reference to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. The bridge of the song adds some claps to the chorus, making it another fun one to sing along to.
The album closes with “Amnesia,” one of the two slow songs on the album. Hood gets to show off his vocals by being the main singer in this song, with Hemmings and Hood singing the chorus together. It is a song about that one person you wish you could just forget about, because the memories hurt; something that most teens can relate to. The band recently performed this song live on MTV’s Video Music Awards, and were the first band to play their instruments live on that award show since Green Day in 2012. The band also walked away with an award for best lyric video, beating Demi Lovato.
Overall this album is very catchy, and will make all the fan girls scream when they hear four cute boys singing about love and loss. There are a few tracks on the album that fall a bit behind, such as “18” and “Everything I Didn’t Say.” Those two tracks tend to blend in comparison to the rest of the album’s strong choruses and catchy rhythms. Lyrically, this album is pretty basic. After all, it is just song after song about how these 18-year-old boys really want to be with some girls. However, the boys deserve major credit for blowing up in the music scene after being a band that started on YouTube in 2011. There are already tickets for their 2015 World Tour on sale, and the album is available on iTunes. If you are interested in All Time Low, We the Kings, or The Summer Set, then I strongly recommend checking out 5 Seconds of Summer. You will not be disappointed!
PHOTO TAKEN from buzznet.com
