Why 5 Seconds Of Summer Will Rule Pop Music’s Future

5 Seconds of Summer want you to recognize what kind of band they are, and what kind of band they are not. 5 Seconds of Summer are here to bring rock back. So they went back to go get it, and drag ’90s rock into 2015.

If you listen to 5 Seconds of Summer’s “She’s Kinda Hot” off the upcoming Sounds Good Feels Good album, it sounds so much like My Chemical Romance and the “Teenagers” single they released in 2006 that 5SOS aren’t even trying to deny it.

Michael Clifford gave Billboard the biggest hint that 5 Seconds of Summer knowingly took inspiration from the song.

“That’s just because of the 12-bar blues. I think it might be in the same key as well. People were like, ‘You guys should sound more like My Chemical Romance.’ Then we do sound like My Chemical Romance and people are like, ‘Why the f*ck do you sound like My Chemical Romance?’ Ugh!”

Songs from the rest of the upcoming album sound a lot like “She’s Kinda Hot.” Despite obvious plagiarism, 5 Seconds of Summer are carving out a new niche in music, the niche of the punk rock boy band. But they are trying to escape any sort of boy band image, despite having boy band fans.

5 Seconds of Summer look to bands like Green Day, Blink-182, and All Time Low for emulation. They want to bring the type of ’90s rock music they love back to prominence. The format 5 Seconds of Summer has put together is working.

5 Seconds of Summer have broken major ground for Australian entertainers in the United States. They hope to evolve a further rock-focused sound. But boy band fans are likely to follow 5 Seconds of Summer on whatever musical journey they take. Legions of screaming girls are already committed to 5 Seconds of Summer in ways that are more than musical. 5SOS can now take that legion on any journey they choose.

The Sydney Morning Herald interviewed Michael Clifford on the worldwide success of 5SOS’s debut album.

“When you get told statistics like we had the best-selling debut album of an Australian artist in the US that is really incredible. To be representing our country like that, it’ll always be special to us.”

Even with a single that sounds so similar in every way to a song released nine years ago, fans aren’t likely to care. And for 5 Seconds of Summer, the fan base is the key to success.

[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Vevo]