poll on a conditional form

Too Shy!

was listening to this record today and thought i might vote for "roadkill" in a poll and then thought the same thing about almost every successive song

"me and you together song" remains perfect

"Guys"

i never want to vote for singles in these polls but my gut reaction is "the birthday party"

"me and you together song" remains perfect

― bunny slopes, Monday, October 12, 2020 4:27 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

a lot of great songs that aren't quite as great as "what should i say"

Almost would prefer to vote for individual moments like:

- "Does it go through ya when I'm talking to ya? You know that I could sue ya if we married and you fucked up again"
- "And I took shit for being quiet during the election / Maybe that's fair, but I'm a busy guy"
- "I feel so seen and I can't dream / sleeping terrifies me, otherwise I'm fine"
- the first switch from "I've been in love with her for ages" to "I've been in love with you for ages"
- the transition to house in "having no head"
- "I'VE BEEN (wearing nothing every time I) CALL YOU (and i'm starting to feel weird about it)"
- The contrast between "She said, "They should take this pain / and give it a name"" and "She said, "I guess I'll take this pain / instead of your name""
- The instrumental "chorus" to "What Should I Say" and then the way the descending piano line comes in on the second "verse"
- "Started wetting my eyes / 'cause I'm soft in that department"

This makes it sound like I'm mostly into the lyrics but I think that for The 1975 there's a real world-building quality to their songs where the twists in the music and the twists in the lyrics really feel like they spur each other on.

Also Matt's very good at creating this sense that the events happening in the songs - and his realisations about those events - are happening in real time, like the narrator doesn't know what's coming next. This is heightened by how frequently these songs or parts of them are structured as dialogues between Matt and an interlocutor. But even when they're not (e.g. "Guys") it's as if the epiphany hits him while he's singing.

So I think that's a big part of why I tend to fixate on particular moments in these songs.

Listening to their albums continues to be a frustrating experience, but I will almost certainly have "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)" on my year-end ballot.

Boring answer but true: birthday party

Boring answer but true: birthday party

Boring answer but true: birthday party

oops didn’t mean to post it 3x lol

Didn’t mean to tootime the poll

i think there's something you should know

"I always wanna die (sometimes)"

Picking out one song from the whole mad swarm of this will be tough. Due a full relisten mind

"Birthday Party" takes it for me, but it's still hard to fathom the incredible consistency of the run of songs from "Frail State of Mind" to the end. Just looking at the tracklist makes me feel a bit of awe! Debut will probably always be my favorite, but it's got more dull moments than this album

tim otm, and in fact i started this poll right after i heard "i took shit for being quiet during the election / maybe that's fair, but i'm a / BUSY guy"

ha that was the line that convinced me they are no longer For Me

my real vote is probably "People", the opening one-two promised (to my mind, anyway) a very different record from the one we got, though there are a handful of songs I like

the follow up line is “i get stoned nowhere and get paid there,” it’s funny simon

and in keeping with the möbius strip of self-reflexivity that has been matty's writing voice over the past four records

It’s not really how babies get made, though.

I'm just never gonna be in a position to do ironic lols about that subject matter, esp when juxtaposed against his/their supposed interest in climate change and social justice. but that's enough outta me

the subject matter of weighing in on an election on social media when you're a celebrity is a p inherent dark lol to me, and i don't think he's treating it with irony at all, like there's a kernel of "it sucked that i didn't do anything," the BUSY GUY is sarcastic not ironic

band has put their money where their mouth is regarding climate change and i find that way more interesting than a record about climate change

See also:

I never fucked in a car, I was lyin'
I do it on my bed, lyin' down, not tryin'

something broke in me on this one (probably as a result of my own shifting priorities) and matt's ain't-I-a-stinker persona just bugs the fuck out of me now. hoping for better vibing next time.

I remain immune to this band but Me and You Together Song is undeniably dope.

i almost can't believe they made an album this good again lmao

“we went to winter wonderland and it was shit but we were happy” is the no 1 lyric that has stuck w me this year ... portrait of domestic bliss in 2020

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

me + u 2gether

i didn't vote for it, but there's something so beautifully heartbreaking about the pitch-shifted vocals in What Should I Say. Matty can pull a lot of emotion out of electronically twisting his voice

something i just remembered: has he.. really been off Twitter ever since he deleted his account at the end of May?

some days "the birthday party", some days "jesus christ 2005" but most days I'D LIKE TO MEET MYSELF AND SWAP CLOTHES / I THINK THERE'S SOME PLACE I SHOULD GO / I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW

wanna vote for the 1975 -> People segue

relistening to this in search of a vote

something on the rest of this album is gonna have to go very, very hard to deny Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied my vote

oh wait i forgot this was the part of the record where he had a complete psychotic break, this will take some thought

ok no I will vote for NE/ED

runners up: people, jesus christ 2005, if you're too shy, guys

*NR/ED

great choice

i ultimately went with "roadkill"

there's something so beautifully heartbreaking about the pitch-shifted vocals in What Should I Say

and this is why i voted for it

I don't get this band at all but "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)" is a good-to-great pop single. Are there any songs that sound like that one on their other records?

"it's not living (if it's not with you)" and "heart out"

"love me", "ugh", "she's american", "the sound" ... honestly i would just listen to the second album

"IF You're Too Shy."

xpost thanks for the suggestions. I'm digging "Heart Out" and "The Sound," the others less so

I don't suppose they've ever put out an album of instrumentals...? lol

i had no idea this was a 1975 poll with the title but didn't figure it out until a few minutes before closing. anyways i have listened to this album a lot this year and this is ranking.

Top 5:

if you're too shy (let me know)
the birthday party
tonight (i wish i was your boy)
nothing revealed / everything denied
frail state of mind

my ranking rather...

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I have no idea how I missed this poll but I'm sad "Playing On My Mind" got zero votes

I mean I wouldn't have voted for it either but still it's a great song

"bagsy not in net" and "frail state of mind" deserved more, but the winner is good

Also would “notes on a conditional poll” be a better thread title

got stoned and listened to this last night, my first listen in a few months

for some reason I always neglect “frail state of mind” when I’m thinking about my favorites, but when it’s on it feels like the best song they’ve ever done

there is something unsettling about “the birthday party” to me, something almost beguilingly evil about its schmaltziness, which I find both repellent and simultaneously compelling. when I listen to it I almost feel the way I do when I watch THE KING OF COMEDY or something

“me and you together song” is my pick though I think, almost unfair how easily they can make a song like that

this is their best record

normally i would roll my eyes at three singles being the top 3 finishers in an album poll but can't be mad at these results at all, those songs are just so good

"frail state of mind" very underrated and "if you're too shy" a little overrated

Yeah I voted for "Me and You Together Song" because (leaving aside its general brilliance) it feels like the lyrics and the ending are a temporary culmination of a lot of the things the band has been driving towards since the beginning - that use of self-puncturing humour to attain a romantic sincerity that otherwise wouldn't be credible, such that "i've been in love with you for ages" sounds absolutely profound.

perhaps it is not surprising that the way that this band play with the intersection between irony and sincerity is at times (and never more so than here) is heavily reminiscent of Daft Punk's Discovery for me. Their music feels influenced by "Digital Love" not just sonically ("The Sound" being the most obvious example) but also thematically and emotionally.

i like "the birthday party" but don't really get the *love* for it

on the other hand, choosing between "too shy" and "me and you together" is choosing between two things that are absolutely perfect in every way and i refuse to do it, so much so that i'm glad - that's right GLAD - i somehow overlooked this thread for the past month. jerks.

^I feel the same re: the Birthday Party, but acoustic pop-mode 1975 is generally my least favorite 1975. Most of the worthiest tracks got at least one vote here, but 0 for Frail State of Mind makes me sad

Yeah "Frail State of Mind" is in my top 5 on this album. Without double checking, I think it's my favorite of their garage-influenced songs

Listening to "Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied" -- they have such a knack for punchy, simple, super memorable choruses