Uttering “I’m not into mainstream music; I listen to a lot of underground stuff” when followed by artists like Rex Orange County, Tame Impala and Arctic Monkeys is certainly comical because of their wild popularity. Most of us have seen the Twitter jokes, and another band that fits right into this category is The 1975.
2013-2014 Tumblr days encompass the feeling emitted when hearing the lighter flick and familiar guitar riff of “Girls.” The 1975 is not underground, and it’s easy to lightly poke fun at along with the rest of the “quirky and different” indie grouping. However, The 1975 doesn’t necessarily need to be seen as a discovery. It can simply just be enjoyed because it’s good.
Frontman Matty Healy’s raw, painful and personal songwriting mixed with the instrumentation that’s impossible to not bop along to is essentially The 1975. Although the group has and continues to experiment and probably should not be labeled, this can still be an efficient summary to some degree.
“UGH!” is a great example of this combination. Healy writes, “And you’re the only thing that’s going on in my mind / Taking over my life a second time.” It’s fascinating how harshly heartbreaking the song’s lyrics are while sung alongside whimsical sounds. If you listen to a song solely for the way it sounds, you wouldn’t know how raw this is. That’s part of the beauty of The 1975: its music is easy on the ears while hitting these hard topics.
Even a song with the title “Sincerity is Scary” from the band’s third album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, is able to sound quite literally dreamlike. The chorus consists of the lines “Why can’t we be friends, when we are lovers? / ’Cause it always ends with us hating each other.” Saxophone is sprinkled throughout the track, and the lyrics delve into Healy showing vulnerability while reflecting on what makes humans what we are. It’s another easy listen, a common theme with The 1975 while played alongside extensive words and funky techniques.
The point is just that: The 1975 is easy to listen to. It does not have to be any deeper if you do not give it the power to, and it does not have to be a revelation. The music is easy to enjoy and is even more interesting when considering the incredible lyric writing. The 1975 goes beyond being “different” and is simply just a good and popular band, debunking the need for the edgy labeling. Although it is all in good fun to giggle at the joke, it doesn’t need to be seen that way.
Lauren Patterson is a sophomore studying journalism. Please note that the views and ideas of columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Lauren? Tweet her @lpaatt.
