I have many thoughts about this song. Having ‘Boyband’ immediately follow ‘NOT OK’, is an insane move. If you need to know one thing about me and my relationship with 5 Seconds Of Summer’s music, it’s that I’ve spent the last 15 years craving more pop-rock.
Without going into too much detail (I’ll eventually do album reviews so I need to keep some content to myself for now), Youngblood is a standout for me, massively. I think it showcases their talents extremely well, and I love loud, real, music. Music that is actually played, not produced into tracks – I have nothing against produced and mixed tracks like that, I just very much prefer to hear instruments being played.

Everyone’s A Star is already very quickly becoming a favourite, Youngblood has set such a high standard for me, but this album so far is doing everything it needs to do in that race to first place.

The way the tempo builds, the little details from the electric sounding background, to the camera clicks – which, by the way, is wildly personal to me as a concert photographer who has photographed a plethora of boybands.
Luke opens the song in a way that immediately sets the scene. It’s quite a dark song if you really deep the lyrics, don’t be fooled by the beat. But I really think that’s what gives it a lot of its charm, the chaos, the visual story it tells through its lyrics. The sexualisation of boybands has been prominent for years, and whilst they’re digging at it, they’re also slightly… digging it?

I’m sure they know they’re a band of very attractive men… Don’t ask me about my bias, or my lane, I have no self control.
The era of Everyone’s A Star so far has fed heavily into this “100% more ego”, “we’re your favourite boyband”, they are self aware, they know they’re hot shit and they know they can be cocky about it – it’s of course marketed in such a way to make it seem more intense. So far, with the visuals we have, from photos, to music videos, to the stories lyrics are telling us, 5SOS are feeding into our delusions. If you’re smart enough, you’ll also be able to play into it from the opposite side of the spectrum.

Back to ‘Boyband’, I love a lead Calum vocal. He sings the vast majority of the song, from clear crisp vocals to distorted, almost panicky feeling, vocals towards the end when it reaches its peak. Which in itself is telling us how chaotic the life of a boyband is, how intense the spotlight is and how loud (negatively or positively) this lifestyle is.
As I said before, I love hearing instruments in songs, and ‘Boyband’ does that, it’s so heavy with every instrument they play, the electric guitar leads it and builds that tension that makes your heart beat a little faster, the bass and synth carries it and really gives it life, whilst the drums are constantly there, almost directing the intensity, making us listeners pay attention to the beat and almost guides us into each different part of the song. The drum beat changes with each verse, and again for the choruses and bridge towards the end.
The detail of the camera flash is really fun, because I think if you know anything about the music industry it’s how heavily photographed everything is, from paparazzi, to carpeted events, to shows.

It almost gives me a sense of anxiety, like they’re running from this boyband lifestyle but constantly captured in every moment, essentially not being able to fully escape. That vibe, feels connected to the tones of the song in lyrics like “make that monkey dance”, “love me ’til I get it wrong”, and “love me when I’m skinny and we never ever age”, because they are constantly scrutinised (and sexualised) for how they look and how they behave. With the bands life so heavily documented, you can see how they’ve grown up and changed physically, but also you can search just about anything and find some kind of horror story – aka, a reason to not love them, for doing something wrong. Also, using the phrase “make me the flavour of the week”, is funny to me, because I’ve been down bad for 15 years, I’d be free from so many shackles if it was merely just a week.
“I only feel alive when you’re looking at me” is a fantastic tagline for the song too! Whilst it’s fun, borderline egotistical, it also acts as a double edged sword. They’re so used to being looked at, photographed and seen when they’re performing that they seek a lot of validation in those outside perspectives. They feel good when they’re being viewed by people who feed into that, maybe a sense of not knowing who they are without all eyes on them.
There’s a depth to these lyrics, which your average casual listener may not understand, but other musicians who are living the same lifestyle, and fangirls who so intently watch that lifestyle will.

Before I inevitably ramble and repeat myself, I’ll leave it there.
I wholeheartedly believe that 5 Seconds Of Summer have found their sound with this upcoming album – whether it’s conceptual or literal.
Youngblood has some real competition, if they stick with this sound, or somehow marry the best parts of this, with the best parts of Youngblood, I think they’ll manage to create a really strong brand and be recognisable for something stronger, more unique and well crafted, than “that band who has that song about underwear”.

If you haven’t already seen, 5SOS made a bit of a trend for ‘Boyband’, where they encouraged fans to “audition”. Anyway, here’s my audition.

Featured Image source: Andy Deluca (@andydeluca).