5SOS‘s Michael Clifford has released his debut solo single “cool,” offering fans a first sneak peek into his upcoming freshman album, Sidequest. The pop punk song is an ode to Clifford’s inspirations and early days as a rock artist.
Clifford has often sited 2000s pop punk as his biggest musical influence and that certainly shines through in this song. From the electric guitar driving the song and the tight kick and snare, the single would perfectly fall into place with the likes of Avril Lavigne and The All-American Rejects. The tape over the first half of the bridge is the cherry on top for this sound. A pop punk revival in the 2020s has been a constant in online discourse, but “cool” sounds like a genuine homage to the sub-genre and you can clearly hear Clifford’s love for the style in this song.
The lyrics also offer a nod to Clifford’s own identity and independent style. In the chorus, Clifford laments that “you’re not cool enough” for the mainstream music scene: “I don’t look the part / I don’t fit the frame.” In the second verse, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Clifford’s personal clothing style notes his anxieties about fitting into the pop music scene with “It’s kinda hard to fit into a new scene when your clothes only fit in 2015.” A final amusing nod to his longtime band is found in the bridge, where Clifford jokingly references a pyrotechnic incident at a 2015 5SOS concert when he refers to himself as “the guy who caught fire with the colored hair from the band with the song about underwear.”
“cool” gives audiences a fresh new take on the pop punk revival as Michael Clifford establishes the sound and tone of his solo project. You can listen to “cool” now wherever you find your music.
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