5 Seconds of Summer - Sounds Good Feels Good (Record Review)

Constantly being in the media these days with basically everything you could think of, it's hard to not notice that these four Australian guys just released their sophomore record.

5 Seconds of Summer have been in the talk of basically everybody, no matter good or bad. Getting stamped off as a boy-band early in the days due to them doing several tours with One Direction. Quite frankly, it didn't shine the best light on them for a certain amount of time, but their latest release will show you the opposite once you plug it in your headphones to give it a chance.

All of the songs sound absolutely massive and a major reason for that is probably how the whole thing got produced by big names such as John Feldmann (Goldfinger), who has previously been a huge influence on record to bands such as All Time Low and The Used.

Having the support of not only him and ATL, but also other artists such as Good Charlotte, State Champs, Fall Out Boy and many others who have voiced their approval of them has helped them to gain a certain level of appreciation among other artists. GC being also massively involved in the recording of Sounds Good Feels Good is something you can definitely hear in many parts of it all.

Generally speaking, there are a lot of different factors why those guys have evolved so much considering song writing, lyrics, stage performance and general movement in the business.

Those guys know how grand their following of young (female) fans is and instead of continuing to write about only 'girl meets boy' stories, as they did for the most part on their debut, they actually use the power they have over their crowd.

By approaching subjects such as parental divorce, mental health issues and loneliness, they show that it's okay to not be okay. Having grown up and being discovered in the new age, they know what this generation is currently going through, being part of it themselves. Gaining their first fame through YouTube and having such a widespread social media accessibility, they know what it is like to get ripped apart on the web by millions of other people from a very young age on.

We've all seen it happening before with bands like Papa Roach who addressed similar things on their debut Infest and who were unquestionably one of the bigger bands in their era. While for that generation it was mainly Nu-Metal to talk about these problems in their songs, right now, these guys are the leaders of it. And they embrace it by calling it 'The New Broken Scene', being aware of their possible influence on kids these days.

Putting the ballads aside, 5 Seconds of Summer also have a proper amount of arena anthems piled up on Sounds Good Feels Good. Especially in songs such as 'Permanent Vacation' (which sounds awfully similar to Sum-41, nobody can deny that), 'Hey Everybody', 'Safety Pin', 'Castaway' or 'San Francisco', you can hear the influences and examples they've taken from bands like Panic! At The Disco and All Time Low (and even a bit of Brand New). There's also a very intense Fall Out Boy vibe going on for the most part of the record with chants in almost every song, using all four of their voices in their favor for it, making sure to incorporate the crowds into their upcoming live performances.

Instrumentally, it's out of question that these guys have come a long way from what they used to create. There's even a guitar solo, or two, included.
To pick up on something previously stated, the songs manage to sound ridiculously massive by including a big variety of instruments which are only minimalistic-ally used though. This is foremost prominent in 'Invisible', 'San Francisco' and 'Outer Space'. Undeniably, they had a lot of helping hands, but the fact that they managed to write this kind of music despite that, at such a considerably young age is certainly an achievement to be proud of.

Personally, the thing that bugs me the most about it is the track listing. To have it start with a bunch of upbeat and motivational songs, to then fall into this depth of ballads, one after another, is quite the downer. While it still gets a little more exciting every now and then, it doesn't flow through all too well. This is no criticism of the songs itself, but the placement of them on the list. Once I gave it another listen on shuffle though, it felt a lot more natural. There might be a concept behind it all as to why they chose this exact track listing, but as for now, that is unknown and I rather make up my own.

But as it always is with music, everybody interprets it in a different way and has an own reason and meaning to find in it.

Is it pop punk now?

Not really.

It's 5 Seconds of Summer and that's really all it needs to be.

Well done.

Overall: 8/10

Favorite track(s): Jet Black Heart, Castaway

Cheerio xx