"I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart"
Sometimes my rapid consumption of music proves to be my own worst enemy. I scan global itunes charts like a fiend and scroll through blogs at hyper speed. When I see something that's suddenly blowing up around the world, my first thought is that it's probably trendy, lowest-common-denominator stuff, soon to be overplayed on every American radio station. I don't know why. I mean, I'm not a music snob (clearly, since most of what I post here would be called "guilty pleasures," at best, by "cool" music aficionados). But, I also know how music these days is as viral as youtube videos. Just because something is suddenly everywhere, it doesn't mean that it's a good song, or even a song at all (The Chainsmokers' godawful
Selfie immediately comes to mind). So, a few months ago I saw that this 5 Seconds Of Summer track was surging to the top of the charts worldwide. I gave the itunes preview a spin, and within thirty seconds judged that it was the kind of teen pop-punk that I wasn't really into. What a mistake. Had I bothered to listen to the song in full, or watch the music video, I would've realized that the track shares just as much with bombastic 80's stadium rock as it does with... let's say... Sum 41 or Fall Out Boy. This is a pop track that deserves the hype. Every once and awhile something like this comes around, like with One Direction's
What Makes You Beautiful a couple of years ago. It's just a brilliant, classic slice of pop that would've smashed in any decade, and will forever be the band's calling card. You only need to listen to it once to be won over, and even if you wanna be snobby about it, you really can't deny that hook. I hope the band's album follows suit. Their newest single,
Don't Stop, is a good start. The world could use another Mcfly-ish power pop band.
(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. Preorder the album
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Labels: 5 Seconds Of Summer
