the 1975 discography

your new era. your old friends. the 1975.

similar to ngọt, the 1975 was also a band that one of the guys I had a crush on listened to, but it’s high school this time. it’s really the type of band that I wouldn’t have known or listened to if not for him.

I think I came across the band’s music many times in the past. I love to watch videos that use films’ footage and a song that isn’t necessarily the soundtrack together. some combinations are just heavenly good. to name a few, atonement footage and goodbye kiss by lana del rey. there was a movie series called the end of the f***ing world (TEOTFW) that I really love, and the video used robbers by the 1975 as a backing track. I can’t remember the first time I watch the video, or whether I watch it at all, but I remember finding it very familiar after when I come across it later after I’ve known about the band. it’s a pity that I can’t tell the first time I watched it before knowing the band. anyways, I’m glad I know them now because TEOTFW and robbers make a perfect combination for a cinematic video.

before it was called the 1975, the band went by drive like I do. according to matty healy (the 1975’s frontman), he came across the scribbled line “1st june the 1975” in jack kerouac’s on the road. it’s interesting how my 1975 and matty’s 1975 is going to be very different, and I love the differences that the same concept brings about, as it allows perception. in case you don’t know, 1975 is the year that witnessed the fall of saigon. the communist saw it as red, but to the pro-south vietnamese, it was known as the black april. the second perspective was not even taught in vietnamese school, so it doesn’t have a vietnamese translation. we only call it the liberation of southern vietnam. but it’s completely different when your family (my mother’s family, to be more precise) happens to be on the pro-south side. the liberation completely inverted the social hierarchy back then. we faced poverty and great difficulties raising a family of five back then. my mother was the fourth child, her birthday is 19th september 1975. therefore, 1975 feels like a year full of change for vietnam as a nation and many people as families. the band name isn’t simply something someone scribbled in a book, but it feels like a reminder about the impermanance of life and the constant of change on many levels to me. I guess that’s a big part of why I love them.

the 1975 consists of four members (from left to right): ross macdonald, adam hann, matty healy, and george daniel, from manchester, england.  similar to ngọt members who met in middle school, the members met during high school and started playing together in 2002. in settle down’s spotify storyline, matty once said “I have often said that the 1975 was never about a pursuit to be recognized, it was always about 4 friends playing music and the fluidity that playing music with people can confuse. it was always about the pursuit of excellence as opposed to being labelled cool. we would rather embrace the slap bass and dwelling guitar harmonies!” these lines, together with their old robbers music video motivated me to create things for fun and to start with what I already have. the first video on my youtube channel is a cover of the 1975’s robbers.

much as taylor taught me about establishing boundaries and respecting people’s personal lives, the 1975 taught me how to treat people, especially society’s outsiders such as drug addicts (as matty was an ex-addict himself) with conpassion and empathy. despite the controversies they went through, the honesty that shone throughout is what made me stay. I believe that the way we react to artists’ scandals doesn’t tell us a lot about them but more about us as a society. the artists are only the mirror, we are the subjects thay they reflect.

dissecting discography

before releasing their debut album in 2013, the 1975 released a set of extended plays (Facedown, Sex, Music for Cars, and IV). they have released five albums, which are respectively called

1. the 1975
2. I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (ILIWYS)
3. a brief inquiry into online relationships (ABIIOR)
4. notes on a conditional form (NOACF)
5. being funny in a foreign language (BFIAFL)

I can listen to any album but notes on a conditional form (NOACF) takes me slightly longer to digest. my favorite album is BFIAL thanks to (1) the well defined atmosphere and sound layering and (2) their new intro song after 4 albums with the same intro song. but if we have to talk about my favorite song, it is definitely robbers. robbers is the 1975’s equivalent of ngọt’s lần cuối.

fun fact: matty is a big fan of clumps of all-caps acronyms, such as the ones that you see above. instead of vlogs, he has a theatrical performance of an intimate moment (ATPOAIM), in which we see the band's life through his lens.

the only thing I hope for this time is that I'd be able to attend their concert in philadelphia this november. I can't buy tickets online as I don't have a US phone number, and even when I use my friends' phone number I still can't. I hope they won't run out of tickets until I arrive in the US at the end of august.

my favorite lines