Entertainment, Reviews

5SOS releases new album, announces tour

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By Maeonne Phillips

Five Seconds Of  Summer’s most recent release,“Sounds Good Feels Good” is gaining positive feedback from around the world. While their single, “She’s Kinda Hot,” blew away most of the 5SOS fans with their pop-punk comeback, the album all together is giving fans exactly what they wanted.

The band sends an encouraging message to teens around the world with their invitation to join “the new broken scene,” providing a different view on the rough times of a teens generation. They promote no matter how rough things can get or no matter what people say, “we’re alright, though.”

 More singles from the album, released Oct. 23, 2015, include “Fly Away,” “Jet Black Heart,” “Money” and “Hey Everybody.”

The band never fails to replicate their fans’ emotions with lyrics representing feelings of loneliness, heartbreak or even moving on. One of the songs on the album describes a situation of divorce, an inside look on how it feels to watch parents grow apart. It seems the lyrics from “Broken Home” are ones fans relate to most, as divorce is very common in this generation.

Other tracks can create a more positive message or even hopeful meaning such as the lyrics of “Fly Away.” The song describes the feeling of wanting to have a new start, traveling to see new things and leaving a small town.

Before the Australians, known as 5SOS,  released their first album in 2014 and even before they opened for One Direction on both the “Take Me Home” and “Where We Are” tours, the band was inspired by Alex Gaskarth, the lead singer of yet another pop-punk band, All Time Low.

All Time Low’s most recent album “Future Hearts,” released April 3, 2015,  goes along with the same vibe as “Sounds Good Feels Good,” which sets reflections of teens and their hardships. With singles like “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Kids in the Dark,” the band accomplished yet another perfect album.

With previous albums such as “Put Up or Shut Up” released July 25, 2006 and “So Wrong it’s Right” released September 25, 2007, All Time Low fans have yet to be disappointed.

The only change seems to be that the band has toned down their sound, as if leaning towards pop rather than pop-punk. Tracks, such as “Runaways” and “Cinderblock Garden” on the album “Future Hearts,” are not as heavy as tracks off the “Don’t Panic” album released in 2012. Songs off the album “Don’t Panic,” such as  “So Long Soldier” and “Choking on a Lifesaver,” show the difference in the directions the band has taken and the sound they are going for now.  As of now, All Time Low has possibly even matched sounds with 5SOS; however, the energy is still there, along with Gaskarth’s meaningful lyrics.

All Time Low has also kicked off a tour with Sleeping With Sirens and Neck Deep, which is a tour sure to bring in thousands of fans for the talent each band brings along. Both Sleeping with Sirens and Neck Deep have had successful album releases as well. Sleeping with Sirens released “Madness” March 17, 2015, and Neck Deep released “Life’s Not Out to Get You” on Aug. 14, 2015.

The tour is called “Back to the Future Hearts,” and while 5 Seconds of Summer has also announced their tour “Sounds Live Feels Live,” teens are struggling to find quick ways to earn money for tickets.

Lifestyle

Drinking water increases health significantly

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Water is a nutrient severely overlooked in the diet of many people. Everyone knows water is something that is necessary to our survival simply put. What we don’t realize are the extra benefits to drinking just a couple extra bottles of water a day.

To put into perspective the importance of water, our body is two-thirds water. The brain is 95%, blood 80%, and lungs 90% composed of water.

Even a 2% drop in water levels inside our bodies can lead to some of the first signs of dehydration: dizziness, fuzzy short-term memory, difficulty with basic math and focusing on small print.

Fatigue is a main symptom when water consumption is low. Feeling tired throughout the day can usually be solved as simply as drinking an extra couple glasses of water.

For teenagers, 8 cups is the recommended daily intake of water or other liquids, such as light juices with little sugar, or energy drinks.

Water is so widely available in our country, yet seventy-five percent of American suffer from mild chronic dehydration.

Nearly half of all Americans aren’t drinking enough water each day. This can have many negative effect on the bodies of those not consuming enough fluids. The benefits of water on our bodies is endless, as are the negative effects of not getting enough water in your diet.

Fatigue and dizziness, mood swings, muscle cramps, bad breath, joint pain and constipation are just a few side effects to mention some. All of our internal organs need sufficient water to function properly. By depriving the brain of water, it causes some adverse conditions. The body feels tired, weaker, and if you are an athlete, poor water consumption can contribute to making your muscles feeling significantly sorer. During activities, our bodies sweat and loose fluid. Drinking water during your workout is linked to preventing and lessening muscle fatigue, and improving performance immensely.

Skin benefits from water as well. Clearer, smoother, glowing skin is linked to drinking lots of water. Water helps to rid the body of toxins and cleanse the skin. Being dehydrated can make your skin dry and wrinkly.

Water helps the kidneys perform at a high level to rid the body of toxins as well. Urine will flow clear or light in color and odor free if your water intake is good; or dark and have a slight odor if your intake has been low. Patients drinking less water are more susceptible to develop kidney stones as well.

If drinking enough water is a difficult task, there are things that you can do to help yourself with consuming more water such as drinking something with every snack or meal that you have.

If one is drinking something that he enjoys, he will tend to drink more of it and remember to sip on it throughout that day.

Eating more fruits and veggies can help as well as many contain 20% water and are healthy, tasty snacks as well.

Keeping a bottle of water with you at work, school, in your car or in your backpack is a good idea too. Having easy access to water will help you drink more throughout the day.

The benefits of drinking water are endless, and it is probably the only thing that has zero negative effects on the body. Drinking water can improve your lifestyle and health in many different aspects.

Editorials

Blocking Spotify unfair to students

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By Maeonne Phillips

Many apps are blocked on the school wifi, but some can seem useless to be banned at all.

Apps like Instagram, Tumblr and sometimes Snapchat can pose a threat to some students. Cyberbullying can take place with pictures being posted, or students can come across inappropriate content.

These apps are labelled as “adult” leaving an understandable reason for the banning. Most students will complain it is still unfair and that most use it responsibly, but the reasoning behind banning them is somewhat obvious.

Even though these apps are blocked , it does not stop students from using them. Most will just turn on their data to use them briefly.

However, there is one app blocked on school wifi that does not seem to pose a threat at all which is Spotify.

Spotify is a music app in which students download as much music as they want and listen to it on shuffle with occasional ads. The only social media aspect of the app is the opportunity to share music through it by direct messaging or create playlists for others to view.

Most students are not able to listen to their music on the app unless they turn their data on, but the blocking of the app is not reliable for other reasons as well.

Spotify gives buyers the opportunity to upgrade to a premium account. When purchased, the user can listen to any given song at any given time, without the interruption of ads, for a month. In addition, they can listen on or offline.

Students who pay for the monthly subscription can easily listen to the app as much as they want without using up their data by simply turning off their wifi.

With the Spotify app being so popular, it is unfair that some students can get around it while others can not.

Not everyone has the money to pay for a monthly subscription, preventing students to listen to their music unless they pay for the app like other students do.

Completely blocking an app from a student is simply impossible. The attempt helps and definitely reduces the use, but the blocking of apps used for things such as music is not beneficial as Spotify use does not cause harm to students.

If the reason for the ban is to reduce risk of students losing focus, the ban is not successful either. Most students will find other apps, listen to what they have purchased on iTunes or even use YouTube to listen to music.

The ban of Spotify by the school is not reliable and unfair to most students.

Sports

Stow vs. Solon at Infocision Stadium

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     The soaring streak from the tail of the Solon Comets could not counter the dominant streak of the undefeated Bulldogs.

    It was a frigid night in Infocision Stadium, where the second round of the OHSAA Division I playoffs took place between the local Stow Bulldogs and the Solon Comets. The second seeded Bulldogs looked to extend their undefeated record to 12-0, but when it comes to the playoffs, it is win or go home, and Solon understood the slate was clean, and both teams were set on equal playing fields.

     The first half was something not seen yet by the Bulldogs as they were scored on first by Solon after a turnover on Stow’s first possession of the game. Solon attempted a two-point conversion, but fell short, giving them a 6-0 with 4:36 to go in the first.

     With time running down in the second quarter, sophomore Isaiah Gray provided the Bulldogs with a timely interception, that senior kicker Garrett Rigby was able to convert into three points to end the half with a score of 6-3 in favor of Solon.

    In the third quarter, senior Monte Board gave the Bulldogs another interception, this time resulting in a 29-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jayson Gobble with 8:24 to go in the third quarter. The Comets responded with a field goal with 2:36 to go, after an interception thrown by the Bulldogs, resulting in a 10-9 score in favor of Stow.

    The ensuing kickoff provided a second chance opportunity for a name not spoken much of this season, but destined to be soon. Sophomore Terrian Wray took the ball 97-yards to the house to extend the Bulldogs lead to 17-9. Even crazier is the fact that this was Wray’s second house call of the night, as he also took the opening kickoff to the end zone, but was called back for a penalty by Stow. The third quarter ended with a score of 17-9, Stow owning the lead.

    Solon scored 6 minutes into the fourth quarter, but failed yet again to tag on the two-point conversion, leaving them trailing the Bulldogs 17-15.

    Stow’s defense came up big, as they forced the Comets to turn the ball over on downs with 3:20 left to go. From there Stow trekked down the field, eating up the clock, and eventually leading to Gobble punching in  a short run to seal the victory for the Stow Bulldogs over the Solon Comets with a final score of  24-15.

    The Bulldogs (12-0) are moving on to the third round of the playoffs to take on Lewis Center Olentangy, Sat., Nov. 21 at Mansfield Arlin Field starting at 7 o’clock. Students have the opportunity to take student busing to the game, as well as get their ticket for free, as Stow Booster Club with be covering the costs.

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