the 1975

So eighteen good to great songs?

album side, alfred

pox the 1975

how to draw/petrichor
it's not living if it's not with you
a change of heart
settle down
heart out
fallingforyou
TOOTIME
by your side
you and me together song

love it if we made it
frail state of mind
somebody else
a change of heart
the ballad of me and my brain
pressure
fallingforyou
i like it when you sleep...
i always wanna die (sometimes)
you & me together song

paris
fallingforyou
somebody else
me
sincerity is scary
undo
so far (it's alright)
head.cars.bending
haunt//bed
menswear

album side, alfred

pox the 1975

how to draw/petrichor
it's not living if it's not with you
a change of heart
settle down
heart out
fallingforyou
TOOTIME
by your side
you and me together song

― k3vin k., Tuesday

Add "Chocolate" and we can toast.

alfred: hereby confirmation that you are indeed an island

"somebody else" excluders are fronting imo

i feel like we did this once before, i can't remember what i picked

girls
me
so far (it's alright) <-- their most underrated song imo, it's their version of a dj koze track
fallingforyou
a change of heart
if i believe you
the ballad of me and my brain
sincerity is scary
it's not living (if it's not with you)
i always wanna die (sometimes)

look i love them but i can hardly be expected to remember the long ass names of their songs, i need more time

doing this exercise makes it clear to me that while i love all their albums, i feel like

the s/t is the most front to back consistent. i only have one song in my POX but it's their most listenable album, and it only sounds better with time as being pan-genre has become so core to the ethos of the band. the EPs are patchier but have some ridiculously good songs.

i like it when you sleep is at least as good as the s/t but imo has some true stone cold unforgettable tracks. i could've easily put "she's american", "i like it when you sleep," and "paris" in my POX. this is overall their best album and if i was trying to get someone into the band i would start them here. it's the one where to me the influences are synthesized in the most cohesive way while also sounding like no other band going. even "nana" and "she lays down" are pretty great.

a brief inquiry... this is the one that has the most songs i just don't feel an emotional attachment to... part of it is bcuz the singles are really good compared to the rest and sometimes it's hard for me to hold onto a single as a personal favorite. the middle here -- from "be my mistake" to "inside your mind" -- is prob the one inessential stretch in their discography, "sincerity is scary" aside. (if i was being very specific the brit awards version would be in my POX). the first 5 and final 5 songs stand up alongside anything from the other albums tho.

Me and You Together Song
Love It If We Made It
It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)
Paris
I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)
Sincerity is Scary
Girls
A Change of Heart
People
Somebody Else

but I tend to prefer their newer material

tootimetootimetootime
somebody else
fallingforyou
me
ugh!
i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
haunt // bed
head.cars.bending
pressure
frail state of mind

https://youtu.be/OXYVr_8ANPk

ah another single I will need to resist listening to

I love exactly one 1975 track and that's 'The Man Who Married a Robot'

"the birthday party" is so lovely

expecting the track in between "frail state of mind" and "the birthday party" to break me

the generational observations of "give yourself a try" with the emotional sweep of "if i believe you"... this is a yes from me

their sax solos always wreck me.

my personal favs, but this is impossible.

somebody else
paris
me
undo
the ballad of me and my brain
menswear
head.cars.bending
a change of heart
love it if we made it
sincerity is scary
so far (it's alright)
it's not living if it's not with you

Love It If We Made It
Paris
She’s American
A Change of Heart
Chocolate
The Sound
People
Somebody Else
This Must Be My Dream
Sincerity Is Scary

Love this so much. Seeing them on Saturday and can't wait.

omg “The Birthday Party”. Ridiculous video, gorgeous song.

What’s been increasingly obvious with the pre-releases for the new album is how stylistically... diffuse and undirected the band has become. In particular songs like this and “Guys” seem dictated by overarching vision that is emotive but not necessarily aesthetic in a thought out way. Perhaps this was always the case but less obvious when the band was new and still stretching its wings (and the first album was obviously mostly very focused).

This is perhaps also why the band can increasingly tread into a kind of post-Britpop/Travis terrain of anti-conceptual directness: there’s no guardrail to stop them. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they can do so “safely”, because I’ve seen lots of great artists slowly lose sight of whatever guardrails kept them interesting, but certainly their reflexive aesthetic inclinations, like here the closing sax solo or Matt’s general lyrical approach, are like good luck charms that light the way.

This is the POX I posted in 2018 which still looks pretty decent:

fallingforyou
Me
Love It If We Made It
Somebody Else
The Ballad of Me and My Brain
Menswear
Undo
Paris
Head.Cars.Bending
Sex

My contrastan move is to always include “Sex” because I think it is a perfect song, almost a tribute to perfect-songwriting.

how is this band so good at this

I’m sorry but if you give this new song a free pass you lose your right to speak against John Mayer’s music.

uh you may find defenders here, Moka

Ah in that case carry on. I actually like it and John Mayer’s music but Iirc John Mayer is specially hated around here. I’m not about to crosscheck people who hate John Mayer and love everything The 1975 puts out because ain’t nobody got time for that.

heart out
settle down
robbers
menswear
the city
fallingforyou
if i believe you
ballad of me and my brain
sincerity is scary
mine
i couldnt be more in love

mayer has classics imo

it sounds more like a yo la tengo ballad filtered through their trademark sophisti-pop production than john mayer

I only like a handful of Mayer songs (e.g. “Heartbreak Warfare”) but in any event Frank Kogan’s “Boany Joan Rule” seems more relevant the older I get:

https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2007/jul/12/the-rules-of-the-game-no-6-the-boney-joan-rule/Thanks

I only like a handful of Mayer songs

― Tim F, Wednesday, February 19, 2020 bookmarkflaglink

i could maybe commit to a pox

add yo la tengo to the influence masterlist

someone please begin linking to the john mayer songs that sound like this. if they exist i want to hear

ok just listened to the new one to see if i can hear any mayer adjacent sounds in there... maybe wheel?

is that a banjo in the birthday party mix?

i want the 1975 to produce a country song.

in the interview matty did while premiering this song he said the plan after notes is for him & george to make solo albums produced by each other.

I think maybe “who says” is the most 1975 John Mayer track?

Anyway I think mayer is much more of a self satisfied yuppie persona I find grating, he’s way less likely to rock the boat or say shits fucked up when it’s fucked up whereas matty is willing to go out on a limb ... something abt mayer still has this fratty entitlement

https://youtu.be/akvu1AOnUIw

i think matty’s best lyrics are on i like it when you sleep. i might be biased

still digesting "the birthday party" but "guys" and "if you're too shy (let me know)" sound amazing, can't wait for studio versions.

best band on the planet in any case.

lmao at the video for this

Maybe I'm hanging out in the wrong Twitter comments (Steven Hyden) but am confounded by the hatred of this band from what I (maybe incorrectly?) presume are mostly middle aged white American men. I think the new song is lovely and all they hear is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Pinegrove. The same people who ate up "Ambition makes you look pretty ugly/ kicking squealing Gucci little piggy" a generation ago now think Healy is a fraud, and I don't get it...

Maybe I'm hanging out in the wrong Twitter comments (Steven Hyden)

hyden is a prize dumbass

I tell myself I’m over this band for the moment and then struggle with making a top 10 out of so many beautiful songs. I haven’t listened to anything unreleased yet, so this is just from the official releases. At this moment in time:

Fallingforyou
I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)
I Couldn’t Be More In Love
Love It If We Made It
Robbers
Settle Down
She’s American
Somebody Else
Surrounded By Heads and Bodies
This Must Be My Dream

To my mind, one difference between Yorke (circa OK Computer) and Healy is that, while Yorke probably would have told people he was full of shit if asked, he always performed/performs the songs very seriously. Matt meanwhile has almost constructed a performative persona around being in on the joke, kind of “don’t believe anything you hear, and least of all this”. It really struck me when I saw a TV show performance of “The Sound” a few years back and Matt sang the song like he was doing a karaoke performance of someone else’s tune, which, conceptually he kind of was? And that is very present at the songwriting level - for example, I cannot think of a band or artist who has written more songs structured as conversations between unreliable narrators.

Considered objectively, this should perhaps make Matt less of a fraud than Thom (though the entire question of “is this fraudulent” is dumb and unhelpful in any event), but I think a lot of people hear Matt’s coded “I am full of shit” messaging and mistake it for something they have worked out for themselves, congratulating themselves for perceiving a kind of fakeness/shallowness to the pseudo-profundity as if that wasn’t precisely the vibe that Matt had been seeking to convey.

Well said, Tim F.

Chocolate
Heart Out
UGH
The Ballad of Me and My Brain
Somebody Else
The Sound
Love It If We Made It
Sincerity Is Scary
I Like America & America Likes Me
It's Not Living If It's Not With You

I could listen to "The Birthday Party" on loop for a long time, such a great vibe. it's maybe my favorite song of theirs on first listen since "Somebody Else". though I have no idea how to feel about the video

and yeah I think that is a banjo in the mix

"you & me together song" is a banger but this hits on a different level