5 SECONDS OF SUMMER - TEETH
by J. Simpson
5 Seconds of Summer break down the confusion of a push/pull relationship on "Teeth!" Have you ever known someone who seems super into you by night, only to completely about-face and act like they don't even know you? It's the height of confusion, drawing and quartering your heart like a pack of wild horses.
Love, sex, and romance are complicated. They're also loaded with some of the strongest emotions a human can experience. Our very survival depends upon it, as a species. It's no wonder love can start wars or lead to madness, pain, and death. It's also one of the sweetest things a person can experience. This dichotomy is broken down brilliantly on "Teeth," one of 5 Seconds of Summer's strongest singles to date.
Luke Hemmings' vocals perfectly match the subject matter, going from dark and broody to soaring, operatic heights as he describes one of these mercurial relationships.
The music serves as a bedrock and launchpad for Hemmings' vocals to take off, most notably the tense, plucky guitar line courtesy of Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello.
The music video makes for a fine counterpoint, acting as an allegory for these kinds of relationships, making them out to be, quite literally, hell. The music video shows the band in some futuristic doctor's office, where they're administered drugs and strapped into some sort of VR device. The quintet is thrust into some virtual purgatory, where men are chained to concrete blocks like a modern-day Sisyphus.
It's the perfect representation of what makes "Teeth" such a winner. It's not obvious. It's poetic and artistic. 5 Seconds of Summer are using the templates of industrial music and 21st Century metal to create something personal, imaginative, and artful. .More heart and more art in metal music, please! We Are: The Guard firmly believes these things need not be mutually exclusive.
J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.