i am so sick of seeing people say that 5 seconds of summer aren't relevant to the pop-punk scene. absolutely 100% sick of it.
now don't start yelling at me that i'm just some stupid girl who doesn't know what's "real pop-punk/punk rock" music, because I realize that until within the last few months, 5sos were a pop band. they released music that was mostly pop, with a bit of pop-punk influences (save for songs like rejects and social casualty) and while i know they're headed in that direction with their sophomore album being, i'm predicting based on the two songs they've released so far, a pop-punk album; but this isn't a post where i'm going to tell you adamantly that 5sos are a pop-punk band. you can classify them however you like, music is music no matter the genre.
call them pop-punk, call them a shitty boyband, i don't really give a fuck and neither do 5sos, but one thing everyone needs to realize is they ARE important to the pop-punk scene. 5sos and their management have been very clever on how they marketed 5sos. they went on tour with one direction, which put out an image that they were "just another boyband" instead of what they actually were (which is a pop-punk band). in 2014, they released an album that was predominantly a pop album. the songs were friendly and upbeat, they had a pop sound which helped push them into the mainstream radio. all of a sudden, you've got slsp playing on the radio and those are REAL instruments. not just a backing track. besides fall out boy and paramore, that hasn't happened since the 2000s when pop-punk and pop rock had taken over the radio stations.
so now you've got this band who have an incredibly large fanbase, due partly to the exposure they got from one direction but mostly to their incredible talent, playing real instruments on the radio and doing it pretty well. fast forward to their new single 'she's kinda hot', which by the very definition, is a pop-punk song. they're a popular band though, so radio stations have to play them on the radio which puts POP-PUNK MUSIC BACK ON THE RADIO. WHICH HASN'T HAPPENED IN ALMOST TEN YEARS.
they're sharing lyrics from bands such as all time low, a day to remember, mayday parade, and bring me the horizon to all of their fans through their twitter accounts; some of these fans are as young as 8. fast forward to this year; you know who else is on the radio? all time fucking low. you wanna know the last time i heard all time low on the radio? NEVER. i have never once heard an atl song on the radio before, but something's gotta give is played on sirius xm every fucking day. both atl's album 'future hearts' and sleeping with sirens album 'madness' went straight to number 1 on the US itunes charts the day they were released.
5sos also brought state champs, a band who's currently been nominated for the best underground band at the APMAS this year, exposing them to over 12,000 fans who might've never listened to them otherwise. state champs had a relatively small fanbase compared to bands like all time low and sleeping with sirens and now they've been exposed to their giant ass fanbase. they're introducing fans to every single pop-punk, punk, rock, and classic rock band i grew up listening to; sum41, all time low, green day, busted, mcfly, marianas trench, a day to remember, simple plan, good charlotte, aerosmith, acdc, nirvana.
they are bringing an entire generation into the rock genre and every single sub genre you can think from. they are almost single handedly bringing pop-punk music back to the radios. whether you want to admit it or not, 5 seconds of summer ARE the leaders of the pop-punk revival.
they've got songs with real fucking meaning being spread all over the mainstream radios and have millions of people screaming along to she's kinda hot, a song that is one of the most empowering songs to come out of this decade; people are screaming "when you've got bigger plans that no one else understands, you've got a shot, though" and "they say we're losers and we're alright with that". do you not understand how EMPOWERING and HELPFUL that is? those words could save someone's life and they probably already have.
now, let me be really fucking clear on this; i'm not asking you to think 5sos are a pop-punk band. i'm not telling you to like their music. but you CANNOT fucking ignore what they're doing for the pop-punk community and what they're doing for music in general.
