The initial life spam of a multi-headed teen-idol entity tends to be brief, often dissolving in a morass of wounded egos and waning fanbases. Not so with the Aussie foursome 5 Seconds of Summer, who have been around long enough that their breakthrough single — the sledgehammer-hook-enabled 2014 cut “She Looks So Perfect” — balances its lustiness on a glimpse of a young women in American Apparel knickers. Initially pitched as a pop-punk act with hooks and looks that’d please One Direction fans, the group pivoted to moody, club-ready pop with 2018’s Youngblood and sustained that vibe through their more grown-up years.
With their sixth album, 5SOS (as they’re known by their “fam”) have fun with their past while continuing to play with darker sounds. Take “Boyband,” which rides a “People Are People”-echoing synth thrum as the four members throw darts at the stereotypes placed on them (“Boy in a boy band/ Imaginary boyfriend/ Irritate the metalheads”) in boy-bot monotones, or the electro-glam stomper “No. 1 Obsession,” which flips the crush-object script placed on them by so many to extreme levels.
It’s not all metacommentary, although their musical choices show how they’re more than ready to break out of whatever boxes they’ve been placed in over the last decade and a half. The stadium-ready “I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again” is a shimmery love song with massive guitars (although using “your ‘90s face” as a compliment kind of gives its game away), “The Rocks” channels its anxious energy into balancing jaunty rhythms with despondent lyrics, and “Ghost” is an admirable stab at a modern power ballad, with weepy slide guitars and a shoegazing breakdown heightening its drama—no mean feat for a song that mentions a totaled Porsche. “Not OK,” meanwhile, is an homage to the dance-rock fusions of Gorillaz’ pumping “Feel Good Inc.” (Calum Hood’s verse in particular channels Damon Albarn’s blasé burr) and Prodigy’s manic “Firestarter,” although its tribute — and portrayal of being in the song’s titular state—would have benefited from a slightly more uncontrolled gang-vocal exclamation.
The history of youth-craze projects is littered with brightly burning stars that fell to Earth once they hit the five-year mark, but since their formation in the early ‘10s 5 Seconds of Summer have made the transition to generationally agnostic pop stars with a wide-ranging musical curiosity and a keen sense of self-awareness. They may not be reinventing the wheel on Everyone’s a Star!; but their humor and musical restlessness make it a breezy listen.
