the 1975

iliwys > noacf > abiior > s/t

oh put "the EPs" above s/t

*listens*

*o christ don't start rapping*

I never listen to the first EP, but if Sex through IV was considered an album it would probably be my favourite just because probably no music in the past decade has had such a massive impact on me as those EPs did in 2013.

Then I tend to think ILIWYS and NOACF are probably tied for top position and the debut is marginally ahead of ABIIOR.

It's also definitely the case that some of the stuff on Notes recalls a lot of the more amorphous but still vocal-based material from those EPs ("Anobrain", "Haunt // Bed", "Head. Cars. Bending", "Me", "Falling For You") more than pretty much anything they have done in the interim. "I Think There's Something You Should Know" "What Should I Say", "Bagsy Not In Net"... To be reductionist, the re-emergence of early Junior Boys as one of the strongest implied reference points. Also the way that Matt's voice is buried or at least sits so far back in the mix in so many of these songs (on "Bagsy Not In Net": I'm also strongly reminded of Basement Jaxx's "If I Ever Recover").

It reminds me that one of the first critical frames I came up with for the band when I was first listening to the EPs was that their influences were almost exclusively 90s and that they were one of the first popular syncretist bands not really drawing on the 1980s as a stylistic signifier - which of course became a laughable proposition in light of the sound of the first and then second actual albums. But "If You're Too Shy" aside, this album has barely any moments that strongly code as referencing the eighties.

yeah Notes is the most inward-sounding they've been since the EPs. i'm really glad they've sorta come full circle and returned to that sort of vibe more, especially after ABIIOR was so big-sounding. there was a recent interview where Matty says he doesn't really expect they'll do any more of their 80s pop tracks like "If You're Too Shy" anytime soon, which i'd be fine with since they've given us plenty of fantastic ones and i'm excited for them to mine newer territory.

i wouldn't really say the EPs weren't really drawing on the 80s though, the sophisti- synth ballads like "Me" and "fallingforyou" are pretty 80s. it's still funny that they'd never heard The Blue Nile when they made those though.

Haha yeah that's the part that made me say "almost" exclusively - though even with "Me" and "fallingforyou" it was a bit like they were drawing (consciously or otherwise) on an art-pop continuum (all the Avalon / David Sylvian / The Blue Nile vibes) that ran pretty unbroken through the 80s and 90s and beyond rather than on a sound we specifically associate with the 80s - that John Hughes / Cars sound that emerged strongly on the album.

So, a couple of listens in, and I can only conclude this is the best 1975 album. It's better than ILIWYS, which I really rate highly. I'm not sure I get the sequencing remarks: they went all out, with a range of styles even broader than before. It's intended to be all over the place, to sometimes have 'opposing' songs back to back. I'm a fan.

much as they seemingly need at least 17 tracks to really make it work, am v excited for their promised 6/7-track spirit of eden/hats effort

― imago, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 1:47 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Don't jinx it man!

I think the sequencing issue is really only an issue for the first 5 tracks of Greta - punk - instrumental - wispy garage-ballad - instrumental. After that it seems no more nor less schizoid in sequencing than the previous two albums to me.

Can we also be really real about how amazing the production quality on "shiny collarbone" and "having no head" is?

"What Should I Say" with that descending piano motif as well.

Some of this album is kinda like "what if I felt a certain way about jamie xx???"

I think the sequencing issue is really only an issue for the first 5 tracks of Greta - punk - instrumental - wispy garage-ballad - instrumental. After that it seems no more nor less schizoid in sequencing than the previous two albums to me.

― Tim F, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 11:11 AM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I agree. I think it's a brave and bold choice to have Greta on their signature first track, but I'll be honest and think I'll probably start the album w/ People more often than not.

Some of this album is kinda like "what if I felt a certain way about jamie xx???"

Haha otm

the sequencing doesn't bug me as much now that i'm used to it but the initial stretch up until "jesus christ 2005" is still awkward, especially that very slow opening section tim mentioned. "shiny collarbone" into "if you're too shy" also doesn't work very well at all.

i agree their production gets better and better with every record. it's wild to compare some of the more electronic tracks on the EPs to this record because of how far they've come

i like that the first few songs act as an uneasy progression into reflexive interiorization

the intro to "if you're too shy" coming out of nothing adjacent does really jar, yeah, even tho the sense of sublimated drift when the band comes in makes it ultimately worth that section

i keep marveling at the vocal production throughout in particular

I'VE BEEN (wearing nothing every time I) CALL YOU (and I'm starting to feel weird about it)

4 > 2 > 1 > 3

v close btwn 4 and 2 but NOACF has more tracks yet fewer that I'd class as "not life-changingly amazing" ('don't worry' vs 'love me', 'loving someone', 'she lays down')

actually mad that they've outdone one of my absolute favourite albums ever jeez

also I fully enjoy the sequencing of the opening tracks - so dramatic and cinematic!

yeah I am completely down with how this album gets going, it’s as the end approaches that I feel the dissonance

yeah I meant more that it's only the opening stretch that feels unusual for them - their previous albums all have a clutch of big singles in at least relatively short succession after the opening eponymous track.

I love the greta song, just a random observation

I prob said this before but it makes me think of Dune like it’s a diary entry from the princess irulan

this album is really, really addictive. not sure if i like it as much as the second album but man what a fucking band.

one thing I hate about this band is that their songs are so hard to stack up against one another. is “yeah I know” the best song they’ve ever written? or is it “me and you together song”? whomst can say

what a preposterous fucking album, man. you go and get stoned on your day off, forget some of the tracks at the end until they pop up and you're all "ok, you're gonna go and hit me with a 'tonight' AFTER you've ALREADY given me "roadkill" and "the birthday party"??? and then "if you're too shy" is still to come. embarrassment of riches

look who's cancelled now!!!!!!!

real talk: everyone get off fucking twitter

actually fuck it, let's just keep talking about the album lol. it's really good!

lmao that is extreme nonsense

we should cancel all writers who have linked to their past work during the current situation

what actually "happened"

he said "#blacklivesmatter" and linked the video for "love it if we made it" and apparently got such blowback he deleted his twitter

lmao

doofus move, total overreaction, sounds about right.

hahahahaha

matty = perpetual 22 year old who has somehow forgotten that he’s now in his 30’s lol

i have burning desire to hear "tonight (i wish i was your boy)" chopped & screwed with some houston legend like say big moe (rip) riffing over it

Having No Head bangs like The Social Network soundtrack and you know it

you could make a killer EP out of just the uk garage tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4iOeCPv96w

the new no rome track, produced by george, is great

why are we not talking more about this amazing record

Nappieeeeees

happyyyyyyy

today 'I Think There's Something You Should Know' is the best song ever.
channeling some 'Menswear' vibes.

you guys are the best thing that ever happened to me

closest reference point i've come up with yet for the kitchen-sink eclecticism of this album is super furry animals' guerilla

first three songs in sequence today have me weepy

i feel like the exuberant stylistic promiscuity fits pretty tidily into their agonies and ecstasies of late capitalism thematic

and i seen the girls and they were all like
"do you wanna come and get fucked up?"
listen
i got myself a missus, says there can't be any kissing
"no, don't be a fridge, you better wise up, kid
it’s all adderall now, it doesn't make you wanna do it"

lyrically “the birthday party” is like the entire cosmos of the 1975 mapped out in a single song

also my replacement copy of the record arrived today and it is an awesome radioactive sickly yellow-green color and i’m
listening to it now and it sure sounds like the best album ever