To celebrate, for 10 days 5SOS released their own podcast on YouTube called 5 Seconds of Summer Talks 10 Years, leading up to today. In every episode, they talk about their memories of each year since 5SOS began, starting with 2021 and working their way back. I'm so thrilled that they did this because I've been wanting Ashton to have his own podcast and this particular podcast is not just audio but a video of them sitting there chatting as well as animation. I also love that "Red Desert" is the intro and outro music.
They then announced The 5 Seconds of Summer Show to be livestreamed on YouTube, as well as a brand new song called "2011," which is a gift for their fans. This was my first time anticipating a new 5SOS song as a fan so I was very excited. Even though they filmed the podcast chronologically, they ended the podcast with the first episode that they recorded to coincide with the release of "2011."
And of course, in true Taking It One Stef At A Time fashion, I'm going to review "2011" right here! Yay!
The song was written by Michael Clifford and Calum Hood out of the band members, which in itself is very cool since it is a rarity. Luke and Ashton have most of the writing credits of the four and I believe that the last time Michael and Calum wrote a song together without them was "Babylon."
Now "Babylon" is a damn good song, so this gives me high hopes for "2011." Michael produced "2011" as well.
I give a lot of credit to Ashton and Luke for 5SOS's existence, but Michael deserves this recognition as well. It's because of him that they performed live for the first time on December 3, 2011 at the Annandale Hotel and even included Ashton in the first place. He is also the one who came up with the name 5 Seconds of Summer.
I'll confess that I did listen to spoiler snippets of "2011" that I found on Twitter. It sounded good, and we get solos from both Michael and Calum too, but my first impression was that it sounded like their older songs, like it belongs more on 5 Seconds Of Summer (2014) or Sounds Good Feels Good (2015). Now I like those two albums, but I prefer Youngblood (2018) and CALM (2020) to them because the music and maturity of them is more my speed. I thought that they were proceeding beyond their original sound and "2011" sounded like they were now going backwards. Unexpected, but good news for their fans who miss that original sound.
But then I realized that because the song is "2011," when they first started out, maybe using the old style was intentional for symbolic purposes. If so, now that is clever.
Okay so now I'm going to tell you my thoughts after listening to the entire thing. Here we get a visualizer video, so it remains to be seen if we will be getting an actual music video for it.
Michael and Calum dominate the vocals in this. We don't hear Luke or Ashton at all unless they are background vocals.
I remember a video of Ashton drumming what I believe was this song now and I was always wondering which song it was, thinking that it could be 5SOS5's "Teeth." lol (And now he has pretty much confirmed this. lol)
I read comments saying that "2011" sounds like a combination of their old and new sounds or sounds from every era of theirs, so I tried to listen to it with this sort of lens. For the most part, I disagree. It sounds mostly like a Sounds Good Feels Good song to me, and I think that this is heavily due to Michael having most of the control over it. I feel like their initial style was his style of music and that he excelled during the earlier eras ("Wrapped Around Your Finger" jumps out to me..."Jet Black Heart" too), so therefore that influenced his making of this song. That's just my impression of him. Like it doesn't sound like anything you would hear on Superbloom (2020) or When Facing The Things We Turn Away From (2021), so therefore you can tell that it isn't an "Ashton song" or a "Luke song," you know what I mean?
Regardless of what sound "2011" is, the message is exactly what I always say 5SOS is all about. It is a song for humanity that EVERYONE can relate to. We could argue whether it sounds like a Michael song, a SGFG song, or whatever. The bottom line is, it DEFINITELY sounds like a 5 Seconds Of Summer song.
"2011" is about nostalgia and looking back at the comforts and aspirations of your past in comparison to your hectic and maybe disheartening present. Though I think 5SOS is in a better place nowadays, and in some ways I am as well, we all often look back at times and think, "Wow. Things were better and simpler then."
Every lyric in this song is applicable to all of our lives. Here are some that resonate with me the most:
I miss the days before I second guessed my life
I miss the days when we could live outside our heads/Before we were all nervous wrecks
Back to the days when the days were better*
Once again, 5SOS nailed it. THEY. GET. IT. I will never shut up about how well they do this. *From 2:14 on in the song is the best part. Ashton's drums during that part even remind me of his drumming in "Babylon." There's even some gorgeous string instruments at the end.
The whole thing brought tears to my eyes.
In 2011, I was smack dab in the middle of college studying for my ever useful English degree. I don't know if I am more or less anxious now than I was then, but I feel like perhaps I was more optimistic back then. Now that I'm in my 30s I often question whether or not I'm where I'm supposed to be at this point, if I am adulting well, if I am smart enough, independent enough, whereas at 21 I was looking at the present and ahead and convinced that everything would be okay because things were pretty normal and I was a positive person. Now I'm not so sure.
I also look at the 90s and think about how nice things were and wonder what my 30s would have been like had I been that age back then. On the same token, how would my 20s had been had I known back then what I know now?
But then again, learning from my past made me who I am today and where I am right now is where I am supposed to be.
Sometimes I envy people who came of age without social media (even though of course I'll admit that this has been a great tool for me to communicate with more people) and a global pandemic looming overhead, leaving a hovering depression cloud constantly raining down.
...
Hey, that was pretty good. Hey 5SOS, you need another lyricist? Feel free to ask. lol
I don't look back at elementary school and high school with as much fondness as I do college, so this could be another reason why "2011" hits so well for me.
And now just a “few” thoughts about The 5 Seconds of Summer Show – A 10 Year Celebration.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this really, but given how they presented the trailer, I just thought that it was going to be another concert set up like Superbloom: A Live Concert Film with them occasionally talking, but it was actually more like a sketch comedy variety show! Yes, they performed some of their best songs, but they also had a few skits, interviews, and old clips in between, all reminiscing about their humble beginnings and structured more like a documentary as they took us through the decade's timeline. They really put a lot of effort and planning into this! lol
Okay so believe it or not, the skits were a hit or miss for me. I know that I say that their comedy is a highlight of the whole 5SOS experience, but these skits are some of the most awkward, trippiest things that I've ever seen, which is both good and bad for me lol.
What I liked about them is that they reference some inside jokes that 5SOS has among themselves and with their fans, proving how in tune they are with their fanbase, and their acting actually was pretty decent, particularly Luke's (his best work was the 5sauce sketch) and Ashton's (there are numerous tweets asking for his Oscar nod). They also showcase their signature self-deprecating sense of humor that I so adore. I'm surprised that they didn't do a skit about how people are always commenting about them losing their Australian accents. lol (Then again, they did somewhat address this in the skit about them never changing.)
I think my favorite skit was the one about their interviews. I’ve watched plenty of interviews with them so it was interesting to see their perspectives about them. As a sometime journalist myself, it also kinda helps me prepare if I ever, by some miracle, get to interview these guys myself. And I love that the interviewer referred to Ashton and Michael as Harry and Niall. Now THAT'S funny, especially since I've made the Ashton and Harry connections before! LOL
And then they started dancing...XD
What I didn’t like about the skits though is when it felt like they were TRYING to be funny. In fact, some of their best and funniest skits was when they were trying to be serious about something trivial and managed to convincingly sell the scene, like the Ryan Seacrest sketch and the funeral sketch. The skits in general had plenty of legitimately funny moments, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes they would go on to the point where it got too cringy for me. For example, there was this one very well written scene where they joke about always using the word "soon" as a backup whenever their fans ask about new music coming out, leading to the word play of "soon" being the only measurement of time that makes sense to them. That's all fine. But then all of a sudden they start chanting the word "soon" in different octaves while in a sort of trance for an uncomfortable moment...and I guess I understand why they did this, and it looked like they had fun with it, but this is where the scene loses me. lol
Now, corny humor seems to be their brand anyway, but for me they are at their funniest when they’re more natural and random, not when it’s too planned, I guess, and you can tell that they are acting. But you know, they're not seasoned actors and these skits are just for fun anyway. They do make me feel more confident about my own quirky humor! lol
The most hilarious part for me that I keep replaying is actually the very last scene, the bitter end of the video, when Ashton is talking so seriously about this bulldog Frank as if he is a difficult costar LOL. This isn't a scripted skit but rather behind the scenes footage of him just being himself sarcastically laying down the rules about the dog. Once again too, this goes to show how Ashton always takes charge of the operation.
Their musical performances were amazing as always, but of course, let’s talk about this show's variation of “Teeth.” We all knew that they would perform this one, but I didn’t expect them to perform the acoustic version of it. They’ve done this once before at the SoCal Honda Sound Stage, and I’ve shared before how I prefer the original version with the drums over that one, but I think that this performance was my favorite of the anniversary show. I mean, duh, it’s “Teeth.” But it’s also nice to see Ashton play guitar with the rest of them and hit the notes that he hits so well. The black and white filter and lighting looked the most calming too. Another one I really liked was when they sang "Gotta Get Out" and it transitioned back and forth between their past and current selves.
But here’s a disappointment that I have about one of their other performances. Ashton has expressed that he wants to perform “Red Desert” live, so when they started singing “Red Desert” acapella, I was hyped! And then when they stopped singing and walked over to their instruments, I was like “This is it!” ...only for them to get into “No Shame” instead...
-___- Come on, man! LOL! It was so unsatisfying! XD
But oh my gosh!!! They performed PIZZA during the end credits!!! I was wondering if they would and they did! They haven't performed that one in a long time! 😃🍕
But what was really creative about the numbers was that for some they produced exact replica reenactments of their original music video and live settings for them, even down to their clothing and hairstyles in some aspects.
Overall, it was a very sentimental show and I kept smiling throughout while watching it with my parents. They provided a sweet keepsake for their fans to continue watching for days to come. I love that this is how they chose to celebrate their tenth anniversary. ❤
So out of those 10 years, I have been a fan for about 2 of them lol. I've seen so many fans tweet about how they grew up with these guys and I'm glad that I became their fan just in time to celebrate their 10 year anniversary with them. Looking forward to being a fan for the next 10 years and to the release of 5SOS5 next year!
Do you think "2011" is their first single off of 5SOS5? I kinda hope so. It would be nice to have it on the album with the rest.
Happy 10 Year Anniversary, 5SOS!!! 😃
I'm gonna go listen to "2011" again. 😉
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