1975 [2 LP] The 1975 Primary Artist

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The 2013 self-titled debut album from {|the 1975|} is a superb album that finds the Manchester outfit poised on the brink of stardom. When rock guitars meet dancefloor synths, ’80s influences become hard to deny, but while the 1975 definitely have a retro vibe (hence the name), the alchemy of how they bring those influences to bear is totally contemporary. While many of the tracks here bring to mind such icons as {|Peter Gabriel|}, {|INXS|}, and {|U2|}, they also fit nicely next to artists of the same moment, like {|Passion Pit|}, {|Temper Trap|}, and {|M83|}. It helps that lead singer/songwriter {|Matthew Healy|} has a compelling tenor croon that can soar like {|Bono|} one minute and coo like {|Lionel Richie|} the next. There is also a sophistication to the band’s songs, and an instinct to blur genre lines that makes it hard to box them into one, easy to define sound. In that sense, the band also recalls the way {|Fall Out Boy|} combined the rhythmic phrasing and melodies of contemporary R&B with their own brand of driving, guitar-based emo-rock. Much has been made of the 1975’s avowed love of ’80s John Hughes movies, and many of the cuts here, like the thrilling, lovesick Settle Down and the sparkling Girls, play with such great narrative momentum that they sound like songs culled from a Hughes soundtrack. Meanwhile, cuts like The City, Chocolate, and Sex drive and climb like the best anthemic ’80s stadium rock, roiling a host of influences into a single distinct sound that, the moment it hits your ears, becomes timeless. [A two-LP version was also released.]

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