The 1975 - The 1975

The 1975 are the kind of indie story as old as the genre itself. Spend a few years on the egde, holding back your best material and then release it all in one to create almost overnight success. This formula has yielded Bastille and Alt-J in the last year alone, but for Drive Like I Do, Talkhouse etc etc, the 1975’s past has been slightly more littered.

Every time the buzz built, they went away again. This, their final form made up of some big singles and a long lasting partnership with Dirty Hit Records (Ben Francis Leftwich, Little Comets) has proven to be the one that stuck.

Four EPs down the line (the fourth of which wasn’t in ‘the plan’) and two top 40 singles under their wing, the 1975 have finally got round to making a record. Starting with their trademark atmospheric-electro sound, so trademark in fact that it shares their name, it gives way to debut single The City . It pulses with power as mission statement before becoming the chilled out pop sound of M.O.N.E.Y. Echoing with the kind of sound that features across many of Bastille’s album tracks before breaking out into Chocolate, its easy to see how the 1975 have created success. Chocolate’s still as infectious as it was when Huw Stephens first caught wind of it on Radio One and yet it’s still not the biggest track on the record. That accolade’s left for their recently re-recorded single Sex.

Old time ’75 fans will have seen this develop from noisy bedroom recordings to the highly produced monster it is now. As with much of the record, it’s in danger of being too shiny, but it’s hard to deny how catchy the “She’s got a boyfriend anyway” is.

After this, its onto the easily forgettable Talk! and yet another 1975-mosphere minute before indie’s answer to the Drive Soundtrack, Heart Out opens the second half of the record. It’s begging for a remix driven by the bassline and chorus but as a standalone track, it just about works as counter-culture-pop. The same can be said for the offbeat Settle Down in which you can practically see the teenagers on eachother’s shoulders during the chorus. 
Robbers proves to be the surprise of the record. Another track taken from the Matt Healy history vaults, the quality of his vocals resembles that of KIGH’s Aled Phillips (and that’s a compliment).

From here sadly, its relatively predictable. By putting 16 tracks on their debut effort, the 1975 have put themselves in danger of creating too many tracks that should have been B-sides. If left at a 10/11 track, this could have been one of the standouts of the year, but left to trail off in the way that this does, all those years of preparation has been let down by a lack of leaving some of their children to die, the 1975 have let some of their great ones down.

7/10

Braden Fletcher

Y Not Festival - Saturday

Saturday begins similarly to the way Friday did; the storm from the night before has passed and Y Not is waking up in warm tents in a damp field trying to piece together the night before and THAT storm.

Anyone hoping to have a steady road to recovery bundled into BBC Introducing’s allocation at the Quarry to catch These Mortal Cities. Their twinkling teenage indie came fresh out of the mid-noughties with the kind of enjoyable naivety festivals should be about, especially considering the crowd was barely over age in most parts of the tent.
From one indie band to another, much more professional and enjoyable one; Sky Larkin took to the main stage to play tracks from their forthcoming record as well as a few fan-favourites. Judging by a few of the tracks, Motto could be a strong return to form for the Leeds band.

From here, one of the possible standouts of the festival come in the form of Drenge.  A big crowd has assembled for the duo in anticipation to hear the MP plugged grunge that will surely heat up the charts next week; and the boys don’t disappoint.  It’s loud, energetic and even features a song about a bus.

I Am In Love follow. What everyone was expecting to be a simple 30minute set however, quickly became a party that featured people playing rugby, a marriage proposal (of the lead singer) and drumming from the middle of the crowd. When you bare in mind that this is all in the smallest tent of the festival, its certainly a feat. Whitemore following this do not satisfy to the same extent and its up to 65DaysofStatic to battle a painfully short set and bring the tempo back up. They do not disappoint with a set that features material taken from their upcoming record as well as the singles from their last and of course, the epic Radio Protector. If only they had over half an hour in the sun!

The 1975 then cram a tent full to the brim for their performance. It’s energetic and a hugely uplifting set full of material that’s bound to set the remainder of the summer alight once their debut LP is out next month and it leads us perfectly back across the Y Not site for a set of Ash’s greatest hits. Their time at the top is most definitely behind them, but Ash still know how to put on a great show and the masses assembled at the main stage agree.

After this it’s only the Cribs left and they headline in style. Whilst the setlist doesn’t favour those who prefer their older material, almost every single from their last decade gets an outing as the band’s Payola record is rifled through in what feels like no time at all. The festival’s biggest crowd so far also proves to be the most raucous and as the Y Not party continues through the night, you’re left wanting more Cribs and less of their last two LPs.

Braden Fletcher

Live at Leeds '13

The 1975 at Live at Leeds

Sound Influx started Live At Leeds 2013 with a visit to The Wardrobe on the Friday night to catch Bearfoot Beware and Wet Nun’s sets. Although Bearfoot Beware entertained, it was Wet Nuns who really impressed. The duo created a sound of a volume seemingly beyond their means. That sound was full of huge riffs and thunderous drums, and boy was it LOUD. Their blend of lo-fi blues/punk really must be experienced live to have its sheer power appreciated fully.

Wild Swim

On the Saturday, it was a long walk to the Brudenell Social Club (buses/taxis are cheating, apparently) to catch the end of Wild Swim’s set. Their emotional songs with Wild Beasts style keys and vocals were certainly worth the walk, especially closer ‘Echo’. Next, to the Faversham, where Swiss Lips’ energetic set surely won them some new fans. The band’s sugar sweet vocals, synths and drum machine beats are easy to hate, but after seeing them live, this cynical view might just have changed for some. The Manc popsters really did bring a fun atmosphere, and live, their sound is just much less, well…annoying. One band who didn’t need to convince anyone was Dinosaur Pile-Up. The local lads certainly know how to whip up a crowd and there were circles going from early in the set. But my god were they loud. Loud is to be expected and anticipated from this band, but ears ringing four hours and the lasting regret of forgetting earplugs isn’t. This was a bit of a shame as it meant the set wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been.

Swiss Lips

After a break for burritos (the ultimate festival food, probably), we got ourselves to the Stylus to see the fantastic MØ, who’s energetic stage presence combined with infectious pop songs made for a really great set. The use of projections as a backdrop was a nice touch, adding an extra dimension to the show for those at the back. ‘Pilgrim’ and ‘Glass’, with Singer Karen Marie Ørsted prowling the stage in a leopard print bomber jacket. From one definite highlight of the weekend and straight on to another, I managed to get to the front for Savage’s set. That renowned intensity wasn’t hampered too much by sound difficulties with singer Jehn’s mic. Once these problems were fixed the launched into a full on rendition of ‘Shut Up’, and there’s probably some irony to be found in there somewhere. The rest of the set, with rumbling bass, punchy drums and, of course, Jehn’s fierce, intense vocals made sure that savages’ performance stayed in my mind for a good long while. They scared and thrilled in equal measures and SI loved every minute.

Dinosaur Pile Up

After getting slightly lost, SI managed to arrive at the beautiful Holy Trinity church in time for Sóley’s sound check. Her set was beautiful, even despite a quite impossibly loud argument breaking out halfway through, which left a slightly awkward, embarrassed atmosphere lingering for a few songs. However this went away as throughout the rest of her set Sóley created such beautiful, haunting songs which had the audience in a sort of hushed reverence, befitting the church setting. ‘Pretty Face’ and ‘I’ll Drown’, with its echoing, sampled vocals, were the highlights of a truly captivating performance.

Embers were a last minute addition to the line-up, and although they clashed with headliners The Walkmen, they were un-missable, as a band who have played too few shows since they first burst onto the Manchester scene. And they didn’t disappoint, creating huge, reverberating songs that filled the tiny, boiling Nation Of Shopkeepers from wall to wall. It may have been the walking, or the heat, or the lack of sleep, but SI may have found ourselves getting a little emotional towards the end of their set. Embers’ blend of shoegaze and post-rock is immensely impressive live, and SI implores you to go and see them.

After realising that I had missed ‘The Rat’, SI is ashamed to say that we left The Walkmen’s set early. A whole day of intensive band watching, walking and getting lost in Leeds had taken its toll and we needed a bit of a sit down. As the Stylus was packed (and rightly so) for The Walkmen, we wandered down to The Mine to Watch Sky Larkin. To end the weekend with a band who have been a part of the Northern music scene for many years seemed fitting somehow, and was really quite special. It seems they have only got better since we last saw them all those years ago.

Live At Leeds, though exhausting, was a thoroughly fantastic festival with a great atmosphere. And, for this writer, who had never been to Leeds before, it also proved a fantastic tour around the city and some of its impressive venues. The only downside was missing so many bands due to clashes , walking or both. Honourable mentions go to The Crookes, The Staves, Micky P Kerr and King Krule. We’re sure that there’ll be plenty of opportunities to see this lot soon though. Roll on Live At Leeds 2014!

Words: Holly Read Challen
Photos: Braden Fletcher

The 1975 - Music for Cars EP

How much material is it safe for a band to release before their debut record? Do you simply do a run of singles in the wind up or do you release one or two EPs to generate hype? For the1975, this question has been made even more difficult in that they’ve been a series of other bands before finally settling down . As such, they’ve been sat on a lot of material for a while, becoming a stronger unit in the process. Now ready to unleash a record on the public in May, the Music for Cars EP is the third in a series of releases that have stood out but not quite shone.

The Facedown EP featured their first heatseaker in The City and demonstrated their quiet side whilst the Sex EP’s hit was its self titled track (She’s got a boyfriend anyway) and You also proved to be an indication that they could be a big band without necessarily having to make the ‘big tracks’.

So why a third EP on top of this?  The hope that the music will do the talking starts to make some sense in Anobrain. Sounding like an electronic version of the band Frightened Rabbit before kicking in to be standout track Chocolate, its pretty much the same as we’ve come to expect from a 1975 EP. Chocolate’s feel of auto-tuned edges lets it down comparatively to Sex and The City, but it’s still got a big feeling around it; the kind of song that will most probably ignite crowds at the many festivals the band have booked so far. The same can hardly be said about Head.Cars.Bending though. Whilst we’re all aware by this point that the1975 are using these EPs to experiment before launching an album that has been ready for months, you’d just like them to skip to that point.

EP closer Me serves as a sort of part two to the Sex EP’s You. A wind down with the kind of feel you’ve come to expect of Snow Patrol should they have reached their synth influenced phase towards the front of their mid-twenties. That’s not even a criticism really; whilst Snow Patrol aren’t everyone’s idea of exciting and groundbreaking its hard to question Lightbody’s song-writing abilities.

Maybe that then is the problem here, and it begs two questions.
Could the1975 have put Chocolate on the Facedown EP instead of Antichrist? Probably. Would that have meant that two condensed EPs were significantly better than three? Most likely.

Still, they’re one of the hottest properties to keep a watch on and its worth doing it before the album comes out if you fancy keeping hold of the contents of your wallet. The1975 are on their way up and all it’s going to take is the removal of some filler.

6

Braden Fletcher