Move over One Direction, there’s a new boys-with-guitars-band in town and they’re taking the world by storm.

You may have noticed the phrase ‘5SOS’ trending on Twitter recently and no, it isn’t some form of distress signal.

That said, it may well be come Friday morning (July 11th) in Ireland when tickets for 5 Seconds of Summer’s European tour go on sale.

WHO OR WHAT ARE 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER?

Zooey Deschanel and Jospeh Gordon-Levitt may represent 500 Days of the glorious season but four young Australian lads make up a whole 5 Seconds.

Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin are the gents in question: Their band began life in 2011 as a YouTube project featuring Luke, Michael and Calum.

The trio were in school together and started posting cover versions online, as most teenagers seem to do these days. Luckily enough for them, they happened to be somewhat good looking and quickly developed a bit of a fanbase.

Irwin joined the band in December 2011 and, as their videos continued to gain momentum, the band came to the attention of some rather influential people.

HOW DID THEY END ALL OVER MY TWITTER FEED?

You can blame One Direction for that one. Louis Tomlinson (the lad who bought Doncaster Rovers) tweeted a link to one of their videos and every fangirl on the internet followed @5SOS.

Our own Niall Horan wasn’t far behind him, offering up their debut single Out of My Limit to his own legion of Twitter followers.

Just been showed this video – TUNNNEEEEE! http://t.co/vhekkwOt

— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) November 26, 2012

And sure didn’t One Direction take them with them on not one, but TWO tours. They’re still gallivanting around the world with them on the Where We Are Tour at the moment.

Needless to say, their three day stint in Dublin was marked with a suitably ‘OYRISH’ Late Late Show appearance.

Add to that a UK number one single AND album, endless weeks atop the international charts and VOILA, the biggest Australian sensation since Kylie and Jason (sorry Pete) had completely and utterly swept the nation.

You can’t really argue with 4.8 million Facebook likes, 3.43 million Twitter followers, 86 million YouTube hits and over 1.13 million subscribers now, can you?

WHY DO THEY REMIND ME OF ANOTHER BOYS WITH GUITARS BAND?

“It’s like they’ve taken every Busted song and b@$tardized them one by one”, I mused the first time UK & Ireland No. 1 She Looks So Perfect came to my attention.

“And why are they giving FREE publicity to American Apparel?”, I wailed.

A few months later, while happily singing along to the aforementioned song (having learned ALL the words, I might mortifyingly add) I discovered that they had, in fact, embarked on a songwriting trip to the UK in 2012.

And who did they just so happen to write with?

James ‘Busted’ Bourne and the lads from McFly. BINGO. That explained it.

HOW MORTIFIED DO I NEED TO BE ABOUT NOT-SO-SECRETLY FANCYING ONE OR MORE OF THEM?

On a scale of not at all to scarleh for your granny for havin’ your ma? Eh, let’s go with somewhat on a face-by-face basis.

Lead singer Luke is fast becoming the new Harry Styles (before the whole older women thing) and reminds me, in the words of one Louis Walsh, of a young Charlie Simpson. However, much like Charlie was in the early days of Busted, little Luke is only a babba.

Born on July 16th 1996, he’s not even reached the age of 18 yet. (EDIT: If you’re reading this now, he has in fact turned 18… but still.)

Michael, who I’ve dubbed the James Bourne/Matt Willis hybrid of the band for some reason, won’t turn 19 until November 2014 so you should probably tread carefully before professing your undying love for him in public.

Then there’s Calum, who turned 18 in January. Yep, we’re still in ‘morto’ danger with that one too.

Bet’cha don’t think having a little crush on one of the One Direction lads is so bad now, do you?

You could feel far less guilty for casting a glad eye over drummer Ashton Irwin though. He arrived on the planet in July 1994 (the year I started school for God’s sake) and is a somewhat less mortifying 20-years-old.

http://instagram.com/p/p2IBuOPV92/?modal=true

It ain’t for nothin’ that these young lads wrote a song about not being old enough for the ladies. Listen to Eighteen for evidence.

WHEN AND WHERE CAN I SEE THEM LIVE? FOR THE CRAIC, OBVIOUSLY.

5 Seconds of Summer will play Dublin’s Point Theatre (or The O2, as the children now call it) on May 28th 2015 during the Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour.

Tickets – ranging from €38 to €44 or €125 for the mad yokes who want the err, full experience – are on sale from 10am on Friday July 11th 2014 through Ticketmaster.

EDIT: They’re ALL sold out now folks. As is the second Dublin night. It’s MAD, Ted.

You can also check out their official Facebook page & website for every teeny, tiny detail.