Quick question. When did 5SOS decide they were going to become completely unavoidable again?
They never actually left, obviously. They have released six albums, toured consistently, and maintained a fanbase capable of recognizing a song from a three-second clip of Ashton hitting a drum. But there is a specific electricity surrounding them right now that feels impossible to just scroll past.
This is not a comeback. This is a takeover, and I fear they may have gotten us again. EVERYONE’S A STAR! arrived with the most committed branding of any 5SOS album. Everything belonged to the same world. The flash photography, tabloid-style headlines, hot pink, surprise appearances, dramatic announcements, and completely unserious levels of celebrity all felt intentional.
Every release was an event, and 5SOS refused to break character. The entire era is also incredibly self-aware. After spending years trapped inside the world’s longest argument about whether they count as a boyband, 5SOS decided to make the argument part of the joke.
They are satirizing fame while being extremely famous. They are exaggerating their own mythology while actively presenting it on their terms. They named a song “Boyband” after spending half their career insisting there was a distinction and they were a punk rock band NOT a boyband. They titled the album EVERYONE’S A STAR! after more than a decade of learning how strange being treated like one can become.
It is ironic. It is accurate. It is camp.
Most importantly, it gave people something new to obsess over.
That became especially obvious at Lollapalooza. Their setlist placed “NOT OK,” “Boyband,” “Telephone Busy,” and “Evolve” beside “She’s Kinda Hot,” “Amnesia,” “She Looks So Perfect,” and “Youngblood.” They covered Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” they even joined sombr’s set for “She Looks So Perfect,” and sent everyone with internet access into a spiral.
The clips were everywhere. Longtime fans were suddenly fourteen again. New fans were asking questions. People who had not discussed 5SOS publicly in years were offering detailed commentary like they had simply been waiting for someone to bring it up.
Personally, I never stopped waiting for someone to bring it up.
My first concert was 5SOS on the Sounds Live Feels Live Tour in Spokane on August 30, 2016. My first Twitter account was dedicated largely to them and One Direction, because apparently I entered fandom with the intention of never knowing peace.
They shaped my childhood, my music taste, and the way I learned to participate in fandom. Watching another wave of fans discover them now feels so full circle. The excitement is familiar, but this version of the band is definitely not.
And just when Lollapalooza gave us enough to discuss, 5SOS decided to open the club. CLUBSOS was their official Lollapalooza aftershow, but calling it an “aftershow” feels like a drastic understatement. The band remixed its own songs and threw them into a set with Harry Styles, Tame Impala, Slayyyter, The Dare, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Britney Spears, Blur, NSYNC, and basically anything else that could make a room lose its mind.
“Telephone Busy” met “Ready, Steady, Go!” “Start Over” met “Dracula.” “English Love Affair” ended up beside “If You Wanna Party.” “Castaway” collided with “Bye Bye Bye.”
What exactly was going on in Chicago?
I do not know, but I desperately needed to be there. The fomo was absolutely insane.
I am obsessed with CLUBSOS because it understands something essential. We all need to be in the club dancing with our friends!!!! We need flashing lights. We need loud music. We need to hear a song we have known for ten years ripped apart and dropped back into the room in a form we never expected.
Sometimes artistry is a devastating lyric. Sometimes artistry is trusting your discography enough to throw it into a blender with Britney Spears.
5SOS could have played a normal aftershow. They could have filled the set with deep cuts, made everyone cry, and gone home. Instead, they built a new room inside the EVERYONE’S A STAR! universe and invited everyone to sweat in it.
That is why this era feels so alive.
The band is not treating its history like a museum. Nothing is sitting behind glass. “Amnesia” can still make an entire crowd cry, but “Evolve” can also be transformed into a club mix. “She Looks So Perfect” can soundtrack someone’s first concert in 2016 and become a new fan’s favorite viral clip ten years later.
5SOS has survived because they understand that longevity does not come from staying exactly as people remember you. It comes from knowing what to keep, what to make fun of, and what to drag onto the dance floor.
They are not taking over because everyone suddenly remembered them.
They are taking over because they gave us a new reason to talk.
So, yes, your favorite boyband is back at the center of the group chat.
Turn up the remix. Text your friends. We are going to CLUBSOS.
