5 Seconds of Summer

The newest entry in the race to claim the crown from relative senior citizens like One Direction and Justin Bieber, the Australian four-piece has exploded on the tween scene much the way the Bieb did – grabbing the attention of teenage girls worldwide via YouTube clips.

But while they are young, attractive and sporting those adorable Aussie accents, 5SOS – as the band is known to fans – can play as well as sing and dance.

Frontman/guitarist Luke Hemmings, guitarist Michael Clifford and bassist Calum Hood started posting YouTube covers in 2011 of tunes by Mike Posner, Chris Brown and pop-punk favorites like Blink-182, which quickly earned a huge social media following. The Sydney schoolchums added drummer Ashton Irwin – the oldest member at 19 – by the end of the year and started writing and producing a 5SOS debut EP, Unplugged.

Successful video releases followed, including “Out Of My Limit,” which reportedly cracked 100,000 YouTube views within 24 hours of posting and the band’s trajectory has since showed no sign of going anywhere but up.

A tour with Hot Chelle Rae in 2012 put 5SOS on stages. And then One Direction came calling.

Without even a record deal, 5SOS soon found itself on stadium stages opening for the planet’s biggest boy band. Matt Emsell of Australia’s Wonder Management, along with CAA’s Mike Greek and Ryan Fitzjohn in the U.K. came on board, as did Capitol Records – which will release 5 Seconds Of Summer’s eponymous debut full-length later this month.

With the stateside addition of agent Brian Manning of CAA to the team, 5SOS is poised to take on America, barely two years after posting those first YouTube videos. They’ve already  got one headline tour under their collective belts, selling out venues including 2,500 tickets at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre earlier this year, and return for the summer on One Direction’s U.S. stadium leg.