5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
Several PS Weekly contributors still listen to 5 Seconds of Summer in the year 2022, but it looks like I am the only one who’s brave enough to admit it. If you need a refresher, you most likely know this four-piece band—that inexplicably has one more second than member – from hearing their biggest hit YOUNDBLOOD at your dentist’s office. Before that, they broke out as openers for One Direction who attempted to revive pop-punk long before Machine Gun Kelly and Olivia Rodrigo came along. In my opinion, 5 Seconds of Summer are the kings of comfort music. Their songs are…. to put it gently, inspired by nearly every pop-rock band that came before them (blink-182, The 1975, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco — you get the point.) But in their broadly commercial sound, they’ve maintained a consistent output of nostalgic familiarity for nearly a decade.
Their fifth album, titled—not a joke—5SOS5, dropped today and brings more of the same in the best way. You get their signature Hot Topic-meets-Dollar Tree sound in songs like ME MYSELF & I, CAROUSEL, BEST FRIENDS, and YOU DON’T GO TO PARTIES. But the band does veer into new lanes on 5SOS5: BAD OMENS is a more mature, The Script-esque offering, HAZE sounds like a hidden gem found on Harry Styles's USB drive, and the breezy FLATLINE is a fun “fine, here's our SUNROOF” moment.
Aside from also-confusingly-not-a-quintet Maroon 5, 5SOS is the only band in 2022 that makes music for the adult contemporary radio station your bus driver played in middle school. If you’re looking for this vibe, hope you have fun catching up on 5SOS’s 5 albums!
—Dustin Sloane, Development Coordinator
