Whipping our hair, blasting that music, and screaming their lyrics. Many of our angsty teenage years had the soundtrack of Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and 5 Seconds of Summer in the early 2000s.
With the release of 5SOS’s most recent single, “Complete Mess,” many fans are preparing for the band’s fifth studio album. But that begs the question: What happened to the other giants of the pseudo-pop-punk genre? The answer is simple: they failed to appropriately adapt.
“Complete Mess” features many of the elements that caused teenagers to fall in love with the Australian boy band back in 2014: effortless harmonies, clever lyrics, and a pounding kick drum. The simple, catchy chorus captures your attention, and the words get stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
But the song fell flat. Compared to the band’s previous upbeat, catchy singles, “Complete Mess” lacked some signature 5SOS elements. The song feels unfinished. 5SOS is commonly praised for their storytelling through song, using vivid imagery to place the listener in the middle of the story.
Their most famous single “She Looks So Perfect” holds their iconic line, “You look so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear.” It transports you to the scene of the song immediately: a teenage kid’s bedroom with laundry piles and a Pulp Fiction poster above the bed. But lyrics like, “You make me complete/ you make me a complete mess” repeated six times don’t have the same effect.
The pop-punk giants that dominated Tumblr in the early 2000s have not released singles since 2020, let alone two whole studio albums. Yet, 5SOS found a way to stay relevant, retain their fanbase, and continue to top the charts, especially in comparison to their rivals.
In 2018, 5SOS, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! at the Disco all released studio albums. In the United States, “Mania” by Fall Out Boy and “No Rest for the Wicked” by Panic! Each had over 150,000 and 180,000 sales respectively. But 5SOS’s album “Youngblood” had 700,000.
Realizing their adoring Millennial and Gen Z fans had grown up and reached adulthood, 5SOS understood how to adjust their band’s sound to fit their fanbases’ desires and maturing tastes. They turned their adolescent, angsty sound into the music of a seasoned, clean rock-pop group. Through the releases of “Want You Back” and “Easier” in 2018 and 2019, 5SOS’s past singles topped the charts and excited fans about the upcoming album because of their updated style.
But “Complete Mess” is missing the rock-pop style that made their 2018 record “Youngblood” so successful. The versatility of the bass lines and reliance upon Michael Clifford’s guitar riffs were nowhere to be found, creating a simplistic, disappointing sound. So although they’ve shifted their focus, hopefully they’ll keep the core of their old sound.
With the full-length album on the 2022 horizon, there is hope for fans awaiting the clever catchphrases, vibrant vocals, and mesmerizing music that 5SOS has created for nearly a decade.