Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer released their self-titled debut album overseas on June 27, but they’re keeping American fans waiting until July 22 when it becomes available in the United States. The 16 tracks on the album not only showcase the band’s talent as musicians, but they make it clear that 5 Seconds of Summer has come a long way in the last three years and they’re definitely here to stay.
The band is made up of Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin and Michael Clifford, all just average Australian teenagers who decided to post some cover songs on YouTube one day in 2011. Their career started to take off in 2012 when Louis Tomlinson, member of One Direction, tweeted this:
In 2013, One Direction invited the band to join them as their supporting act on their worldwide Take Me Home Tour. From there, 5 Seconds of Summer’s career skyrocketed. They signed to Capitol Records, won Breakthrough Band at the MTV Music Awards, won Best International Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards and were nominated for countless other categories at some of the world’s biggest music awards shows.
The first single released off of the album, “She Looks So Perfect”, is one you’ve probably heard on the radio pretty much every single day. Within two days of the song’s release, it had reached #1 in 39 countries. The second and third singles, “Don’t Stop” and “Amnesia”, have also gotten considerable radio play.
Because of the band’s tour with One Direction, many perceive 5 Seconds of Summer as a boyband. Even though, yes, they are a band made up of all boys, their music and style is far from the typical boyband persona. They want other people to see them as a pop punk/pop rock band, drawing influences from bands like Blink-182, All Time Low and Green Day. Alex Gaskarth, lead singer of All Time Low, even co-wrote with 5 Seconds of Summer on three of the songs on the album.
The songs on the album range from very high energy and upbeat with fun, catchy lyrics to sing into your hairbrush when you’re home alone to slower, more emotional ballads. Songs like “18”, “Kiss Me Kiss Me”, “Never Be” and “Social Casualty” highlight the perks and drawbacks to teenage life – something all of us can relate to. “Everything I Didn’t Say”, “Beside You”, “Lost Boy” and “Amnesia” are where the romance comes in. Deciding which are my personal favorites on the album was super hard, but I think I’ve got it down to “Don’t Stop” and “English Love Affair”.
Overall, I would give this album 4.5/5 stars. As a debut album, it did its job perfectly of giving the fans what they’ve been waiting to hear while simultaneously leaving them wanting more with the proof that they can do even better. 5 Seconds of Summer just announced their first headlining tour, the Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour – 24 dates all across Europe starting in May. There is no doubt in my mind that the band will one day have their own tour in the U.S., and you already know that I will be buying tickets.
