OK, Let's Address the Christian, Catholic "Offenses" in 5 Seconds of Summer's "NOT OK"

Well, well, well! It looks like my boys are finally back! :D

Welcome "Complete Mess," the First Single of 5SOS5!

I really appreciate that 5 Seconds Of Summer always manages to write songs about me and named after me. That's nice of them. First “Empty Wallets,” now “Complete Mess.”

I was wondering if I should cover this song now, or later when I do a track by track review of 5SOS5’s entirety.

Ehh…I’ll do it now. It’s hot on my mind and it saves me from more work later. Lol

So on March 2, 5 Seconds Of Summer finally dropped their first single and music video of 5SOS5, “Complete Mess," thus kicking off the 5SOS5 Era in full swing. This was my first time as a fan experiencing the release of the first single and music video of a 5SOS album and watching them promote it in real time. 

(Wow. A lot of “firsts” there.)

Okay, so as usual, my initial thoughts, and then I’ll review the full thing further.

Happy 10 Years to 5 Seconds Of Summer! 😃

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of 5 Seconds of Summer's career. They even have their own hashing emojis on Twitter to commemorate the occasion. lol

An OdeTo OneRepublic (the typo is on purpose lol)

It seems to me that most of the best bands have a number in their names. First One Direction, then 5 Seconds of Summer, now OneRepublic.

Happy One Year Anniversary to 5 Seconds of Summer's Fourth Studio Album CALM! :D

One year ago today, 5 Seconds of Summer released their fourth studio album CALM (2020) and it was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious) - Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, and a Brief Review of Plastic Hearts (2020) and Future Nostalgia (2020)

Happy Women's History Month!

I've noticed that a lot of the music artists that I prefer to listen to are men. 5 Seconds of Summer, Ashton Irwin, One Direction, Harry Styles, Niall Horan... So I decided to dedicate this blog post to two woman artists that I have been listening to lately, Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa. 

A Spotlight On Ashton Irwin and a Track-By-Track Review of His Debut Solo Album SUPERBLOOM (2020)

During quarantine, I wrote an entire thesis gushing about how awesome 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) is. All four members of the band are great, talented guys and I love their friendship and teamwork.

But for this blog post, I'm going to play favorites a little bit and focus on my lane. 

(This is another piece that I am ending up perfecting and adding to as it's live. lol :P I did manage to publish and share this one, but I have been reverting it to drafts because I always feel like it is not ready yet as I revise. I also consider it kind of long and maybe too personal on my end and I'm not that comfortable revealing too much about myself. I love this album so much that I want to be sure that I do my writing about it justice. However, I do think that this is a decent piece and I did have the intention of sharing it, so I'll do my best with it. I want to finally leave it as is once and for all and stop being a perfectionist with it soon.)

One fine day in September, I decided to check Google for some updated news. Imagine my surprise as an Ashton Girl to see THIS:

A Tale of Two Brother Bands: The Impact and Evolution of One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer

Introducing my quarantine passion project! I worked so hard on this all of these months since like April during self-isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic. I had a blast writing this and am extremely proud of it! It certainly kept me busy, productive, and happy. Some circumstances then took place, and I kept perfecting it and adding things, but now I finally finished it (I think LOL, unless/although I will probably/maybe continue to edit and revise it and add things while it's live lol). I wanted to wait for the best time to share it, so hopefully now should be good. I have to let it go at some point and I wanted to release it before the year ends lol. Plus, from the writer's standpoint, I'm kinda tired of looking at it now. Haha!

If you're in the mood to read something extremely lengthy about two of the best male bands of this generation, please enjoy! lol :)

Just so you know, this critique essay includes mentions of sex and profanity.

INTRODUCTION

Ever since I got into One Direction (1D), I have felt myself becoming interested in boy bands again.

But let's talk about 5 Seconds of Summer.

I Never Thought That THIS Would Make Me Happy... Or, How I Came to Love a Certain Boy Band

About time I posted on here again, huh?

I've been keeping the following to myself because I consider it a private, personal situation for me and am a bit hesitant to admit to this, but I also feel compelled to blog and share about it as well.

There are some inner issues that I am working through, feeling extra nervous, depressed, or overwhelmed about things lately. It was my 2019 New Year's resolution to overcome this, and it had gotten better in January, but I still found it trickling over a bit, for nobody changes overnight.

All Good Things Must Come to an End on "The Masked Singer"

Well, Team #RabbitMask, we fought the good fight, but our friend The Rabbit was unmasked tonight on "The Masked Singer."

I'm so upset, man! I thought he had what it took to win the whole thing! I thought he and the Lion were going to be the final two, and SHE was unmasked tonight too!

Meh. Oh well. I mean, I was looking forward to finally seeing who he is. lol

AND THE RABBIT'S TRUE IDENTITY IS....!!! DRUMROLL, PLEASE!!!!!!

Why the Rabbit is the Best Part of FOX's "The Masked Singer"

OMG, you guys! We HAVE to talk about FOX's "The Masked Singer"!!! LOL!

I think this is the stupidest show I have ever liked. And considering the stupid stuff I've liked in the past, particularly delivered by FOX, that's saying something. LOL

I was looking forward to the show when I saw commercials for it, finding it intriguing enough to want to check out, but I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I do. lol

I then realized that I like it because it combines two of my favorite entertainment elements: performance and mystery.

Based on South Korea's "The King of the Masked Singer," the premise is that celebrities dress up in these amazing outlandish costumes designed by Marina Toybina and perform musical numbers for a celebrity panel consisting of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger, and host Nick Cannon. Everyone then has to guess who the celebrity is behind the mask.

Young Females in the Music Business: Bringing Innocence Back to Music

This whole week I have been hearing a lot about this new young female popstar Rebecca Black and her new single "Friday." A lot of people have been poking fun at the child, annoyed with her and her lack of musical talents, but like always I am going to go against the norm and defend her.

I had the liberty to provide you with the music video to the song so you know what I am talking about just in case you haven't heard or seen it yet. I know it is very corny and cliche. She's not a very good singer and one of my friends even compared her to Fran Drescher (whom I love by the way but let's be honest her voice isn't that pleasant). The song is pointless, the kids are annoying for some reason, and the lyrics are not creative at all. However, I know a majority of people are going to disagree with me, but I like the song and I like her.

As repetitive and irritating it may be, the song actually puts me in a good mood. She's happy about spending the weekend with her friends. That's the gist of the song. That's all it is. There is absolutely no reference to underage drinking, drugs, or sex. The partying she and her friends do are dancing and singing! It's all innocent and a breath of fresh air from what you see nowadays in the media. 

Why is it that Ke$ha has such a huge following when all she sings about is drinking and partying, sending raunchy messages (though I would admit that I do enjoy listening to her music and "We R Who We R" does send a positive message) but everybody is treating Black like she is this musical devil when she actually sings about something positive and her message is decent and tame. We can all relate to looking forward to the weekend. Both women are pretty much talentless to an extent (because I don't think either Ke$ha or Black is completely terrible), and neither of their lyrics are diverse but are rather bland, so I don't understand what gives Ke$ha a higher advantage. 

There is question though if she skips school on a Friday. Uh oh! A bad message??? Well, you can look at it like that. However, perhaps you can also look at it as her waiting for the bus to take her home from school for the weekend as opposed to taking her to school from home. Then she runs into her underage driving friends. Now, okay, this part of the song is just funny. There's this big dilemma of what seat she should chose. It's just not to be taken seriously so I wouldn't worry about it much.

The last thing I would like to address is how people are constantly calling her the next Justin Bieber. Um, why? What are you trying to say? 

Are you trying to say that they both lack decent vocals? Because that kid can SING! The only reason why I don't like him is the hype and always seeing his face, but that goes for anything that is overplayed after a while. 

Are you trying to say that Black is going to be the next child superstar and eventually we are all going to get tired of her? Well, maybe. It doesn't hurt to say that people are probably tired of her already. 

But, are you trying to say that she is the next young superstar who is going to inherit a success like Bieber's? Because if you are, prepare to see a lot more of Rebecca Black in the future, folks.

My friend Celeste then introduced me to this kid whose song is just as painful yet tame as Black's. This young lady's name is Jenna Rose and in this song appropriately named "My Jeans," she discusses her jeans and how celebrities wear the same ones as she. The plot of this song is even less substantial than the last. I don't understand why these songs seem to follow a trend of describing the girls' morning routines, hanging out with friends, and underage driving, but I can't say I entirely dislike it. Like Black, Rose is not horrible, but yet she's not very good either.

I wouldn't necessarily qualify either girl as a real influential woman role model just yet considering we haven't seen much of them yet, but let's just say they are both honorary members of "Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious)." ;)

I guess what I am trying to say is it could be worse. I applaud these girls for putting a more cheery spin on music nowadays as opposed to other kinds of music that can actually be derogatory, especially towards women. These girls are doing what girls should do at this age: be happy and enjoy life the natural way. Notice how bright and cheery the colors and lights are in the videos? 

There are people who make fun of them, trying to fathom just how these girls are getting record deals and air time because of their lack of talent. I do it too because it's laughable and shocking when we see and hear it. We are not used to this kind of cutesy and simplistic music in today's society so when it happens we think it's a joke. Bottom line is, they are the ones doing it, we aren't, so we probably shouldn't have any say whatsoever in what they do and if their lives skyrocket to success. They are getting their names out there, beginning their careers, and we are talking about them. They are accomplishing a lot for people who haven't hit their twenties yet, so kudos to them. 

Some may see this as music going downhill. Maybe we should look at it as going uphill.