It’s not just his ever heart throb look but the anguished way in which he sings that give you the impression that he is indeed about to cry. He pushes his voice to the limits in either direction switching from high pitched falsetto to almost shouting. This one is rather stripped which makes Healy’s distressed vocals stand out. On to Robbers, which is equally often performed, they slow down the pace. It continues the 80s feeling but is a lot more jaunty than any of their other songs. Settle Down is another frequent live song. Just imagine you play College’s A Real Hero at double speed. It has an infectious pumping bass line and features a saxophone that sound like from an 80s movie. It’s been a favourite of mine for a while and I’m glad it finally gets a proper release. Next up is Heart Out, a song frequently played during their shows. Talk! borrows from math rock with its frenetic beats while An Encounter is a solemn interlude separating the first half of the album from the second. Chocolat e embraces a tropical electro pop sound similar to The City. Although my teenage years are more than a decade ago I can still relate to this song like I was still 16. It’s soaring guitars and explicit lyrics are bound to stick with anyone who ever dabbled in emo pop rock. While Sex may not be their most arty or creative song, it is certainly their most memorable. is the band at their most RnB followed by Chocolate and Sex, the singles from their previous EPs. The City has a kind of Vampire Weekend guitar riff that makes you tap your foot to the beat and I’m pretty certain it contains a reference to Misfits (the show, not the band). It leads straight up to the hit single The City which has been re-recorded and given a fuller sound for the album. Recorded at the Motor Museum in Liverpool, with Arctic Monkeys collaborator Mike Crossey, the album kicks off with the eponymous title track The 1975 which is a dark synth laden electronic opener with reverberated vocals pretty much like the ones on their EPs. Working together for such a long time has enabled them to draw from their back catalogue and release 4 EPs and an album in merely two years. Singer Matt Healy, son of actors Tim Healy and Denise Welch, really is living his childhood dream of becoming a pop star. The 1975 really are a bunch of friends that started out a a school band. The 1975 have been around for over a decade changing their name frequently from Talkhouse to The Slowdown to Big Sleep to Drive Like I Do until their eventually settled for The 1975, a name that singer Matt Healy took from a poetry book. Their eponymous debut has become one of the most anticipated releases this year and The 1975 have become Britains new flagship guitar band, and I must say it’s well deserved. It wasn’t until the release of the Sex EP though that I, and thousands of others, became truly hooked and their popularity just sky rocketed. Back then, they had just signed a deal with Dirty Hit and released the first of a string EPs which included the later hit single The City. The 1975 have made themselves quite the name ever since they first popped up on our radar about a year ago.

Girls the 1975 album cover