Back at the beginning of 2013 there was a certain amount of anticipation in the air in the UK. The unveiling of Kat Moon’s mystery man? No. The impending birth of the Royal Baby? No.
Although both being pretty monumental dates in the calendar of a Briton, they don’t quite match the magnitude of the event that occurred on the 2nd September 2013.
The release of The 1975’s debut album.
I was unfashionably late to this secret society-esque underground party of fans that The 1975 have slowly been acquiring over the course of the last 8 years, but in little under a year it’s become a party that I don’t wan’t to leave. The 1975 party is the kind of party that makes you want to invite the whole world and their granny to and tell them to bring their own bottle of beer. I’ve raved about them on Twitter, I’ve turned them up when they’ve been on the radio, I’ve played their previously released EP’s over and over to the extent whereby if it were a cassette tape of yesteryear, I’d have no doubt had to replace it by now or fixed the tape with a HB pencil.
The bands eponymous album, which was co-produced by Mike Crossey (of Artic Monkeys fame), really does ensure you get bang for your buck. Spanning 16 tracks it almost runs the risk of being too ambitious for a debut, but with each song being finely crafted and reworked over a 5 year span, the 16 tracks are executed perfectly. With 3 of the tracks, “The City”, “Sex” and the breakout hit “Chocolate” earning the band Top 40 hits, the remaining 13 each hold their own as potential hits with no sign of any fillers or album padding.
What I love about this album is that it’s hit after hit of indie goodness with massive helpings of that unmistakable 1975 80’s guitar sound and catchy chorus’ that the bands poppier songs deliver. Tracks like “Settledown” and “Girls” are the two songs which immediately jumped out at me, as well as the incredibly catchy “Talk!” and finishing with “Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You”, an incredibly personal track, which showcases lead singer Matt Healy’s voice. Lyrically, the album takes inspiration from drugs, lust, love disguised as sex and sex disguised as love…isn’t that what most great art is about?
With the likes of Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles tweeting to express their love of the album, this long awaited release is receiving some serious (and well deserved) kudos on social media platforms and music sites alike. I think that (as well as the music) the popularity of the band comes from the fact that backing The 1975 is like backing an incredibly humbled and talented bunch of underdogs who deserve to be top dog.
There are certain albums which make you feel like, if someone were to make a film of your life, that album would make a pretty cool soundtrack.
This is one of those albums.
I JUST got an iPod (I know :/) so this may well be added to my list of purchases very soon! Also I found out yesterday that the 1975 were previously known as Drive Like I Do, who used to play around the Manchester circuit a bit. I’ve seen them in some really tiny venues, like the now-defunct Phoenix. So weird!
X