5 Seconds of Summer - She Looks So Perfect (EP Review)

I've read a ton of articles and heard  a lot of the buzz around 5 Seconds Of Summer. Some articles question whether they are good for pop/punk and should they be considered a boy band, etc? I decided I'd take a slightly different approach. How about I just listen to the EP, ignore their status what it may or may not mean, and just you know listen to see what I thought.

When I watched the video and listened to the song "She Looks So Perfect" I automatically thought that this feels like The Click Five. Remember The Click Five? Back in the mid-2000s these suit clad shaggy hair looking guys played a sort of catchy pop/rock. Their debut album cover made them look like a rock band. They all had an instrument to play! Heck they looked nearly just like The Hives did on their Tyrannosaurus Hives album cover. Even there last.fm similar artists comparison would still have you believe these guys were the real deal. In truth though The Click Five weren't really a "rock" band they were a gimmick. A band looking to cash in on a look and sound. Did it work? Sure, for about fifteen minutes every pre-teen (and probably more than a few post-teens) walked around with The Click Five's single "Just A Girl" stuck in their head. I'll even admit the tune is pretty darn catchy. That's basically what this band is in a nutshell, a gimmick with a few radio friendly songs. To address the "image" of the band briefly. The band looks like maybe a cross between Simple Plan and Good Charlotte. I really want to say Good Charlotte because the band as a whole just looks standard but one of the members (Michael) looks like he could be auditioning for Benji Madden's original role in GC. It just really reminded me of those original Good Charlotte promotional photos.  

I could definitely see people that originally enjoyed bands like All Time Low, We The Kings, or Boys Like Girls enjoying the band's four song EP She Looks So Perfect. Their song "Heartache On The Big Screen" sounds a lot like an All Time Low b-side during their Nothing Personal era. It's easily the best song on this EP and captures the "pop/punk" sound the band is attempting to go for pretty well. This EP is probably a little too polished or too shallow to capture the interest of more current pop/punk fans that are into The Wonder Years and Fireworks. Even with all the hate Real Friends has been getting lately their lyrics are quite a few steps ahead of the stuff found on the 5SOS EP. Still there is no denying to my ears that 5 Seconds Of Summer's EP, She Looks Perfect, is four songs of pretty catchy pop/rock/punk that follows the pop/punk light formula enough and that I honestly think it's really not all that bad for what it is. Pre-teens could definitely do worse than this and every kid needs to start somewhere.

As far as the influences go, they definitely wear them on their sleeves. I can hear traces of sounds that remind me of bands like Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, We The Kings, etc... On the flipside it's also impossible not to notice a lot of similarities to this recent crop of instrument playing boy bands. The lyrics are oftentimes cringe worthy and definitely made for a young crowd. Some song lyrics are a little more cringe worthy than others. It honestly reminds me of lyrics you'd hear on Simple Plan's debut LP. This has some staples of pop/punk in terms of sound. I'd argue it definitely has more of a standard pop to pop/rock sound overall.  

5 Seconds Of Summer is definitely generically-tagged pop/punk that really is just pop music and the band is definitely part of the new boy band trend (see One Direction and The Vamps). The punk tag is thrown in for those "edgy" lyrics and "rough around the edges" look the band has in their video and promo photos. I mean not every kid that watches the Carrie Diaries wants to be like Carrie; some of them want to be like Dorrit! If that's the case this is the band for them. I mean look at those guys spiked up hair, earrings, and hair dye! Mothers and fathers lock up your daughters immediately!

Their music has very little depth, if any, and a lot to be desired by anyone looking for anything but light radio pop music. If you find yourself just out to hear some catchy PG rated pop songs that are done decently you could definitely do worse. I mean Sugar Ray wrote a lot of generic alternative rock songs in the 90s and they had some decently fun and catchy songs. I will give 5SOS some credit for at least making some interesting waves recently and getting people talking. I honestly never thought I'd review an album from a pop/punk boy band on my website. I just saw a pig fly over my house.

Conclusion: this band is something like All Time Low (in their Nothing Personal or maybe Dirty Work era) mixed with One Direction mixed with Loded Diaper (the brother’s band from the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid movies).