8 Songs That Reveal 5 Seconds Of Summer's Path From Pop-Punk To Pure Pop

5 Seconds of Summer were never any more of a boy musical group than their heroes in pop-punk staples Blink-182, Sum 41, and Good Charlotte. However early in their career, the Aussie quartet couldn't help although avoid that label as they rose from YouTube cover stars to readymade pop-punkers in skinny jeans, first up for One Direction (who were definitely, certifiably a boy musical group, complicating things). The disconnect gnawed at them a bit.

"Seventy-five percent of our lives is proving we're a real musical group drummer Ashton Irwin told Rolling Stone in 2015. "We're getting good at it right now. We don't wish to just be, like, for women. We wish to be for everyone."

While it's easy to be able to see that quote being taken out of context, it was clear that Ashton — and guitarists Luke Hemmings and Michael Clifford and bassist Calum Hood — meant simply that they desire to be huge and make massive music. That's why, in February, any time 5SOS roared back with "Want You Back," it was easy to be able to see the machinations at work: This is a pop song. These guys are, and have really habitually been, pop stars at heart. You just needed to know what listen for.

needless to say, you couldn't routinely tell by the crunching guitars and arena-sized drums. However going all of the way back to 2014, the seeds for 5SOS's full pop crossover had been planted all along. And right now, with the band's long-anticipated third album, Youngblood, dropping on Friday (June 15), it is time to take a look at exactly how. Here's the 5SOS pop developments tracked in eight of their biggest songs.

"She Looks So Brilliant (2014)

The sound: '80s stadium rock for the Instagram generation

The story: If this nuclear chorus wasn't fans' first exposure to the musical group — they'd already been YouTube pros for years — it was definitely 5SOS's arrival announcement to the larger world. Stadium-influenced and youthful with traces of pop-punk, it revealed, in three-and-a-half minutes, everything you needed to know about the musical group up to that point... Even if Michael wasn't sold at first. "It hit me straight away," Ashton told Rolling Stone. "I loved it because it was quirky. I knew it was gonna break us. Michael hated it."

"Don't Stop" (2014)

The sound: If One Direction were featured on the American Pie 2 soundtrack

The story: Making goofy music videos is a time-honored pop-punk tradition (much like shaving heads). Here, 5SOS become "superheroes" to show off their own daffy side for a scorching pop-punk cut straight out of 2001. Their early signature sound had come sharply into focus.

"She's Kinda Hot" (2015)

The sound: Good Charlotte-inspired frisky mall-punk

The story: Co-penned with the Madden Brothers themselves and Goldfinger's John Feldmann, "She's Kinda Hot" was, upon release, the latest entry in a storied rock lineage. "It's a variation on the 1950s rock and roll walking bass line, and this kind of riff appears in multiple well-known songs, including [The Beatles's] 'Day Tripper,'" musicologist Joe Bennett told MTV News in 2015. I hear a little bit of The Offspring's "Why Don't You Get a Job?" in there also. The formula works!

"Hey Everybody!" (2015)

The sound: Sum 41 on TRL in 2001

The story: This fizzy shout-along anthem one habitually reminded me of Sum 41's "In Also Deep," and the video fits that description, also. As a substitute opposed to high-diving ne'er-do-wells, 5SOS (appropriately) play youthful millionaires in a reference-packed visual that, needless to say, ultimately ends up in the pool. "We wanted to show that at the end of the day, the musical group wanted to just be themselves, however we visualize them walking away from this really prosperous lifestyle," director Isaac Rentz told MTV News in 2015. "They don't need it, it's fun, however it's almost like an amusement park rather than something they really want." Without consideration, 5SOS were young, wealthy and willing to take on the world.

"Jet Black Heart" (2015)

The sound: The flipside of the stadium banger (a.K.A. The roof-raising power ballad)

The story: There's a reason the musical group has played this song live over 150 times in the past three years: It simply connects. You could visualize it in the fan-assisted music video; how the matured sound on Sounds Good Feels Good took 5SOS's spry vigor and amplified it into something supersonic. To do that, the musical group worked with former Evanescence member David Hodges and pointed the song directly at the sky, getting as large a sound as possible. It was only a matter of time up until they did it again.

"Girls Talk Gentlemen (2016)

The sound: Glittery '80s pop splattered with tasty falsetto

The story: In hindsight, 5SOS gave us a blueprint for their Youngblood quantum leap back in 2016 through the this neon gem from the revived Ghostbusters soundtrack. With songwriting assistance from a little crew of pros (including pop maven Teddy Geiger), ladies Talk Males goes where most 5SOS tunes had not gone before: directly into a white-hot funky groove. "It's more like a cool step for us musically," Luke mentioned at the time. And that step led directly to...

"Want You Back" (2018)

The sound: Super slick, heartfelt dance-pop à la The 1975

The story: With this, 5SOS have right now reached a pop milestone also achieved by the Jackson 5 and NSYNC (and Haim, too): writing their own version of a rumbling song with this particular name. And what a rumble it is. The shout-along choruses have been swapped out for gooey falsetto — the handiwork of Steve Mac (who helped pen "Shape of You") and others. As Luke recently revealed, it was the end result of plenty of trial and error: "We've got to sort of do something that is way better and greater for us as people and for us as a band."

"Youngblood" (2018)

The sound: Bleachers, however heartbroken in the club

The story: On the forthcoming album of the same name, Youngblood is a unabashed mission statement for a new era of 5SOS. The electronic drums are louder. The guitars are supplementary alternatively opposed to central. And the sense of heartache is crushing. For this one, the musical group wrote with a handful of pop wizards beyond songs from Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Post Malone, and Justin Bieber. It's clear to be able to see why — while you require a song that sounds so drastically different nevertheless also sounds like outrunning yourself, this is who it requires. "No one was expecting us to take this sort of route any time it comes to what we could've evolved into musically," Michael said recently. To quote some very important 5SOS forebears, I guess this is growing up.