Review Summary: 5 Seconds Of Summer, the band that Sounds Bad, Feels Worse.
Back in 2011, an Australian teenager called Luke Hemmings started posting videos on YouTube featuring himself performing covers. He was joined by his friends Calum Hood and Michael Clifford, and later, Ashton Irwin. And that's how 5 Seconds Of Summer was born... well, ***.
To be honest, I'd really find it impressive for someone making a lot of success as a band because of YouTube... if this didn't happen so much diverse times before! And it amounted to nothing as I gave them a listen on their song "She Looks So Perfect", and right after I felt like Billie Joe was smashing his guitar right on my head... (remember the iHeart Radio incident?) Holy ***, it was one of the worst things I ever heard in my life, at the point of including it in my YouTube playlist of "musical atrocities"... Hell yeah, I did it. Anyway, they opened for One Direction... so it wouldn't surprise me that they sound really boring and... something that isn't related with good. And then I listened to the rest of their self titled... I couldn't find any, and I said ANY track that I could play twice (although sadly "Amnesia" is probably the best song off it, but I didn't like it until this same point)... But I know I'm saying bullcrap, and not focusing on their sophomore album, and you know that bands work hard to make their second album better than the original, and there's a LOT of them that manage to do it (Bring Me the Horizon, Incubus, Nine Inch Nails, My Ticket Home), and you'd expect that 5SOS would do the same, right...?
Wrong!
This album made me angry, to the point I couldn't understand how John Feldmann agreed to work with them, and look that he's the frontman of ONE of the best punk rock bands I ever heard, Goldfinger! First, let's start with some stuff that were notable on the album, because I don't feel like doing a review on every damn track here. First, the lyrics. Compare the lyrics of this to their first album, at least they had the decency of maturing their sounds and lyrics, at least I think it's miles better than "She looks so perfect standing there, in my New Apparel underwear... UGGGHHH"... No wait, it IS better. But, wait, wait, the cliché is still strong there... Oh, crap.
Second off, the musicianship... Seriously? The most infamous example of this is "Hey Everybody!", which is basically Duran Duran with different lyrics and ***ty vocals. Although there are some good guitar work there, the drumming is still as bland than Emmure's breakdowns, and look that Emmure actually manages to make me feel like moshing, while 5SOS manages to make me fall flat on my face. And the vocals... Luke clearly sounds better than the debut, but possibly Michael does the best singing here... But I can't get used to Calum and Ashton, although I can agree that Calum still sounds as annoying as ever.
Third, the music. Still basically One Direction with guitars. That's all... obviously it's not, and let me tell you why it sucks. "She's Kinda Hot" is pretty much really annoying, and look that it is the most "punk" song in this album... but this saves itself from getting absolute hate from me, because I found it rather catchy... And there's "Hey Everybody!", which is, still, a total ripoff of Duran Duran. (but, hey, at least they ACTUALLY credited them) And there's some forgetful tracks... "But, c'mon dude! Isn't there any song that saves the album from being absolute garbage?" Actually, yes, there is one!
"Jet Black Heart", ladies and gentleman. When I heard it, I actually found it really good, and while the drumming is still bland, the vocals actually sound really good here, with kudos going to Michael here. It is probably the best song on this album, but putting a cherry in a big pile of a *** milkshake still makes it ***... Seriously, don't bother with this album, and if you decide to go on iTunes to see some of it, please buy as sole tracks either "Jet Black Heart", or maybe "She's Kinda Hot", because it is kinda catchy... though. I did this joke because the band IS an absolute ***ing joke! Until this band actually redeem themselves, and actually do some real pop punk songs... or a post-hardcore song, 'cuz from what I heard, Michael seems to scream really well, do not bother with ANY of their work... seriously, stay the hell away from them. Even Attila sounds better than them, because it induces me to punch someone in the guts, but until then, this album "Sounds Bad, Feels Worse".
Rating: 1.5
Pros:
- "Jet Black Heart"
- Some good guitar playing by Michael and Luke.
- The catchiness of "She's Kinda Hot".
- Maybe something of "Broken Home".
- The more mature lyrics... at last.
- Better vocals, particularly Michael's.
Cons:
- Almost everything else.
- "Hey Everybody!", as it is a bland ripoff of Duran Duran.
- The cliché won't go away!
- Bland drumming... seriously, fire Ashton.
- Inaudible bass (but, honestly, who cares about hearing the bass anymore? Okay. I kinda do.)
- It is basically the part 2 of their self titled.
- I don't know it they are a punk (CRINGE) band or a ballad band.
- The fact that they destroyed the pop punk's basic premise that worked for years.
