The Tritonian

One Direction Sparks Return of Boy Bands

Sunday, April 29, 2012 By Anne Marie McKenzie

Move over Justin Bieber. Teens around the world are going in a new direction. They are going in One Direction. One Direction, the British-Irish boy band sensation, consists of five members from both England and Ireland. The group recently signed in North America to Columbia Records after placing third in the seventh series of The X-Factor . After each member entered the competition separately, Simon Cowell made the genius decision to create the boy band filled with not just one but five Justin Bieber-esque boys. Why nobody thought to do this earlier is hard to imagine. “I know I’m probably a little too old to like a boy group like this, but for whatever reason, I love them! Their new song, “What Makes You Beautiful,” I fell in love with right away. It’s so nice to hear more musicians who sing songs with meanings and songs that are appropriate,” said Notre Dame Academy senior Alyssa Vandenbush. However, One Direction is not only catching the attention of the girls but the boys as well. “When I’m in my garage shooting pucks and I have 95.9 on the radio for the 5’oclock traffic jam and the song “What Makes You Beautiful” comes on, it distracts me because it makes me think of Margaret Faller. But I don’t mind because I actually kind of like the song…and Margaret,” said NDA senior hockey player Tim Davison. With the release of their new album, Up All Night , the group is attracting all ages. “What’s really nice is that my whole family can enjoy One Direction’s music. My little sister and I both love their songs, which is really rare. And even more rare is that my mom likes them too. I think she does because it’s not rap and they actually sing nice songs. The only one who isn’t quite a fan is my dad,” said Vandenbush. Vandenbush’s dad is not the only one who still needs time to warm up to the group. “My students always play their music and they remind me a lot of the Backstreet Boys. It’s the return of the boy bands and I don’t know how I feel about it…” said Jordan Vandehey, math teacher at NDA. However, Vandehey seems to be one part of the minority who hasn’t joined the One Direction bandwagon. The question is: will One Direction be just another teen one-year wonder? “I really don’t see this group going out of style. I love their music and I’ve even watched some of their concerts online. They put on a really great show and it’s really not that cheesy. The songs they sing are really catchy, and I can see them being able to adapt to the changes of what people want musically. And even my little sister is obsessed so I think they will have a young enough fan base to support them for a long time. And I can’t wait to get tickets for their concert when they perform around here!” said NDA freshman Ellie Zimmerman. Whether a One Direction fan or not, it’s hard to imagine that anything that can make so many girls so happy will be going away soon.