5SOS- Sounds Good Feels Good

Hello Everyone,
so this post has been a few days in the making, mainly because I needed to dedicate a shit ton of time for listening to the album, discussing it with friends and trying to narrow down my favourites.
As we all know, I'm a massive fan of 5 Seconds of Summer and on October 23rd I felt like a kid on Christmas as I downloaded the album and hit play for the first time. I didn't know what to expect in terms of sound, from songs that have been released such as She's Kinda Hot and Fly Away I knew it was going to be filled with catchy little anthems punching the references to 1D right where it hurts. I had read about some of the songs and was a little nervous  to hear them (aka Broken Home).
The overall sound of the album is maturity. Their self titled debut featured songs the lads had written at 16 and 17 years of age, songs that fans attached themselves too but Sounds Good Feels Good was made in real time, talking of love as the members experienced it, talking of travelling and being on the road as they lived it and on reflection of getting out of a little town and living life on an enormous platform nobody could ever imagine.
The riffs are heavier, the songs are drenched in the blood, sweat and tears of the musicians they admire and worked with, such as Alex Gaskarth, the Madden brothers and John Feldmann and, for me, the album seems to be split into stages of life- the first being the coming of age and realising life isn't all that jazz when you can't even afford a bus fare, the second being that love often SUCKS both romantically and within a family and the third is the prospect of life getting better, if you just take the bad with the good.

I didn't realise, upon first listen, how much of the album we'd already heard. With seven of the 17 tracks either being featured on ep's, being available for early download or performed during their Rock Out With Your Socks Out tour. Though I was surprised as to how much of the album wasn't a surprise, I was still excited for the ten shiny new songs we hadn't heard.
The opening track Money has grown on me in recent days.I think it'll be a monster live.
I love the little talking intro on Hey Everybody and the catchiness of the 'oh oh oh oh oh oh oh's' I also find the lyrics relatable af given my current broke student wanting to travel lifestyle.
Permanent Vacation was one of my favourite moments of their tour. I loved the crowd participation and because we didn't have a studio version I had nothing to compare it to. Whilst I enjoy hearing the polished sound of the album, there's something I miss about the claps, hey's and live performance.
So Jet Black Heart is the first song which introduced the emo element on the album. Michael's vocals are so well suited to the song, and I adore the moment the song breaks down and features some of my favourite lyrics 'the blood in my veins is made up of mistakes.' I can imagine the emo of this live.
Catch Fire reminds me of the idea of the broken American Dream. My friend Natalie pointed out the opening lyric ' oh say can you see' mirroring the National Anthem and Ashton's drumming resonates with a marching band in parts. I enjoyed the chorus, imagining how great it will sound when fans are singing along during concerts.
Waste the Night was my favourite track on my first listen. I loved the repetition of the 'and i' in the background, and it sounded so different to their catalogue of sound. The interlude surprised me the most and it's one of my favourite things about the album as a whole. Not only are they making fresh music which shows of their rock roots, but their also using the album to demonstrate their talents and ability to experiment with sounds. The interlude on Outer Space/Carry On is one of my favourite sounds, but we'll get back to that later. I also noted that the bass in the song is incredible, so yeah, kudos 4 Calum.
Now it's time for me to talk about Vapor. A song which already corrects to all caps on my phone and which features my favourite lyric from the album 'I wanna feel you in my veins.' In my mostly filled with AHISJOSMDBDOJDIHDODJO notes I wrote that the song reminds me of a movie. I could imagine it playing at really Hollywood esque moment, like kissing in the rain or something. I also said that I want this song to be playing whenever I'm walking around, in a shop, at uni, just living and shout out to Ashton who has a itty bitty little solo.
Castaway is my current favourite song. I'd describe it as intense and the best break up song on my iTunes. Hearing this song for the first time was when I realised just how well their sound has developed, as well as their vocals. I am beyond excitied to hear this live next year (bc it better be on the fxcking set list or i'm cancelling) I can just imagine how into it they'd get and how much the audience would feed off it, and overall the song just makes me super pumped, because I love angry songs.
The next few songs are what I like to call the EMO trinity. The Girl Who Cried Wolf has been growing on me since it featured on the She's Kinda Hot Ep, and I just need to talk about it, after all, that's what therapy is. Not only do I love the title, I love when Luke gets into it and then I freaking worship the 'IS ANYONE THERE AT ALL' type ballad Michael does at the end. I know people who love this song and people who hate it but I absolutely adore it. I feel like it showcases the four of them so well, Ashton's drumming is on point, Calum, Michael and Luke are strong on their vocals and it's just so good at making me emo. Then we have the song we do not name. The song which made me cry when I read it resonates with Ashton because of his parental situation. Broken Home doesn't sound how I imagined it too. I thought the opening reminded me of Adam's Song which explains the EMO. I love lyrics in the second verse 'she's the scar, she's the bruises she's the pain that you bought.' The lyrics are so visual and I think that's why it makes such a deep cut on people's emotions. I've seen that Luke, Michael and Calum were a little unsure how they'd make the song come across, given their parents are all together, but they certainly bought the emo to life well. The chorus is the saddest I've heard in a really long time, but I think the song touches out well for fans who can relate to the situation. Invisible made me cry more than Broken Home. I felt like it's the song that would've made me cry myself to sleep at 14 and I think a lot of people need songs like this to realise they aren't alone in life. I can already picture me crying on the floor during a live show if they perform this. Both Invisible and Broken Home feature the London Orchestra who help the boys bring the songs to life and build in emotion. The end of the song, with the violins and declaration that 'it's too late' made me sob, which I'm guessing was the point.
I love the intro to Airplanes, given I'm a sucker for OOOOOOH's. I think this song is beautiful. It reminds me a little of a song that would be in a stage show, it's quite theatrical and really uplifting, with lyrics like 'got something to prove, nothing to lose in this city.' Ashton's drumming (yh i'm talking about that again) explodes with sound and Michael's vocals carry the song. I know my Michael girl friends count this as one of their faves off the album.
At first I was indifferent towards San Francisco. I didn't hate it but I didn't think it was the *best* on the album. However, it has grown on me. I particularly love the chorus, it's got that movie scene feel to it like Waste the Night.  It also has an interlude which I love. I really hope the interludes get performed as they are on tour and not edited down, because they have such great energy to them.
The last song on the album is Outer Space/Carry On, which is second favourite for me. I love how the lyrics tie the album together, featuring lyrics about castaways, London and the weather which have featured in several of the songs on the track list. There was a moment I thought the song had ended and then Carry On began and I had a WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING moment. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't love this song. I wish I could have a sound tattooed into my skin, because Outer Space/Carry On would be it. The waves make me feel so peaceful and I suppose reflect their time writing and recording by the beach. I love the melody of Carry On, how it feels like time has stopped, and the only thing you can hear is a chorus of  'you know it's gonna get better.' It fills listeners with hope, that they can get out of a shitty situation, out of the 'gutter' that's pulling them down and survive. This is the song I needed in high school and whilst people can mock 5SOS and say their wannabees with no talent and no authenticity at least 5SOS are spreading positive messages through their music. The point of the album was to present a movement, The New Broken Scene. I think for me The New Broken Scene is a way of saying it's okay not to be okay, you can be broken but you can get better, in a relationship, in a mental state etc. Ashton has said a lot about American Idiot by Green Day and the impact that had on a generation. I remember the characters from American Idiot, the idea of it being a rock opera, commenting on things in society, war/drugs/heartache. Sound Good Feels Good touches on society for this generation and I think that makes it stand out even more. I'm just really excited to see the direction the album takes 5SOS in.
I know this isn't a very put together review and it's mostly just me blabbering about the things I loved about the album I hope you've enjoyed reading.
If you haven't listened to the album I really suggest you give it a try because it is SO brilliant.
Thank you for reading this far,
Aimee :) x