5 Seconds Of Summer hit #2 in the US

Western Sydney pop group 5 Seconds Of Summer are continuing their purple patch with their EP She Looks So Perfect debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart. The EP was held off the top spot by the Frozen soundtrack, now in its ninth week at #1 having sold over 1.9 million copies.

The EP has achieved the third biggest first week album sales of 2014, marking the highest-selling first week album sales by any Australian act since AC/DC’s Black Ice in 2008.

The four piece are looking to become Australia’s next mammoth export after selling out a ten-date US tour of 2,000-seaters in under five minutes, an eight-date UK headline tour – also selling out in just minutes – and their Live Nation-promoted Australian run  – all with little US airplay.

Before the EP’s Billboard win, She Looks So Perfect topped the official charts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, has been certified Platinum by ARIA and reached #1 on the iTunes Album Chart in more than 50 countries.

Modest! Management is largely to thank for the group’s overseas success; the company’s CEO Steve Barnett helped take One Direction global, overseeing their US promo and slotting 5SOS in as support for the UK phenomenon’s 100-plus-date Take Me Home world tour in 2013.

However, it’s their social media dominance that first sparked the hype; after getting their start posting a few covers on YouTube, 5SOS have now accumulated over 40 million views on YouTube, 2.3 million Facebook fans and 9+ million combined Twitter followers.

5SOS (Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin) have been in Los Angeles and London recording a debut album over the past 18 months. According to Billboard, the LP will feature Good Charlotte’s Joel and Benji Madden and All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth.

The band’s US tour kicks off tomorrow in San Francisco and following this, the fab four will open One Direction’s Where We Are stadium tour through Europe, U.S. and Canada, which kicks off May 23.