While the song’s themes — relationships, break-ups, rebellious behavior — are not at all unusual, their lyrics are. They explore more intricate relationship values and difficulties, as well as the constant struggle between modern mainstream and counterculture movements. Lead singer Matt Healy’s distinctive Newcastle-Manchester accent saturates most of his vocals, muddling the lyrics to the point where it can be difficult to understand. The overall melody and instrumental cues captivate the listener, and you easily forget your karaoke sounds like gibberish when Healy’s mumbling takes over.
Some of the tracks, including “Menswear” and “Pressure,” fall short compared to many of the album’s singles. The group failed to escape mainstream music’s current conundrum: filler. It’s unclear whether these less creative but convoluted pieces fell flat due to a lack of inspiration, or if they really were just to beef up the band’s first mainstream album. Nevertheless, the stronger tracks carry this album to the top of the charts, and make up for the inconsistency.
The group released “Girls” on Nov. 11, 2013 after the album’s original release, and the track has since then worked its way onto numerous popular radio stations. The song’s instrumental introduction and melodies throughout are a deceiving classic bubblegum pop, and in the music video for “Girls,” Healy complains to an offscreen director that the video “feels too pop” and the 1975 is “not a pop band.” This tongue-in-cheek addition to the video plays off of the song’s deception. Yes, the riffs and hooks are extremely characteristic of pop music. Yes, the lyrics are simple and repetitive. But that’s the genius of “Girls” — it’s deceptive. The lyrics are in fact raunchy and complex for the pop instrumental pairing. You expect “Girls” to be a pop song, and it is, just in the most unconventional way possible.
While the track “Sex” has a predictable title and contains predictable themes, coming across this song once on the radio makes it all but escapable. The 1975 may beat repetition to death, but their use of catchy lyrics and irresistible sound bytes will have you singing “Sex” in the shower, on the way to school and while you’re trying to focus on that math test. It is arguably one of the album’s strongest tracks and retains the group’s indie-rock essence.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/100148810″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Released as a single on March 4, 2013, “Chocolate” is easily the band’s most popular song, given its radio popularity. The track kicks off with muted, heartbeat-like thuds that make the spark of electric guitar that follows even brighter. An infectious repeated riff and clap-along beat gives “Chocolate” a very genial, upbeat feel despite lyrics that refer to drug addiction and running from the law. Without excessive solos or diversions, the track remains focused and captivating throughout its entirety. While Healy’s vocals are slurred enough to warrant a quick Google search for the lyrics, you don’t have to understand what he’s saying to sing along. Nearly as addictive and uplifting as its namesake, the track is easy to keep on repeat for the duration of any arduous task that requires you to remain alert, lest you fall asleep and die from monotony.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/75503064″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true”/]The 1975’s namesake debut album is not perfect, but still an album worth listening to, with a plethora of classic and unavoidable tracks. It is arguably some of the best this “hipster” culture has to offer, and will have you stuck on repeat.
This article was reported by Christine Liang and Sarah Ramos.
