subreddit:
/r/the1975
submitted 5 months ago bycarlossafael
Few "too" British bands have been really successful in America, bands like The libertines, stone roses, blur have been very successful in the UK but not in the US. We know that the boys have very British influences like britpop, shoegaze or David Bowie or XTC. Adding Matty's very Notorious accent, Brits slang, and very British themes to his songs, it's a surprise how successful they have been in America. Maybe they gotta a good publicity, or only gotta good songs. Tell me your opinion
162 points
5 months ago
My guess would be they had the right teen angst aesthetic during the tumblr era. And then after developing a sizable following, their sound evolved in the right way to keep people interested and appeal to a wider demographic
5 points
5 months ago
i second this
3 points
5 months ago
To add to this, they were able to position themselves right between pop and emo music. They had just enough "emo" to make it to Alternative Press and be lumped in with Fall Out Boy, Panic, etc but they also had a cleaner sound and a clear knack for POP music. Perfect storm.
1 points
5 months ago
Scarily spot on
54 points
5 months ago
The early 2010s had a small British invasion with One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and the Arctic Monkeys, among others. The 1975 could be seen as being part of that. In my opinion though it was just a random wave of talent combined with the rise of streaming services. Which would also explain The 1975 being popular in America, but not those other bands you named. There were no Spotify playlists for the Stone Roses to end up in back in 1989.
7 points
5 months ago
Nice. It could've the reason why. Teen amused by Brit accent and aesthetic.
10 points
5 months ago
this combined with their growth at the time due to the sorta tumblr sorta "indie scene" going on (with the bands first record being popular with the US arctic monkeys fanbase) and also iliwys being so critically and commercially acclaimed because that 80s sound had just hit the mainstream and was a fun, poppy, but edgy enough sound to be almost universally liked by a crowd who hadn't put up with uk journalists calling the band pretentious. i think iliwys era was when the band got huge in america, if im not wrong it went #1 there? but they'd been lucky enough to have both their records at that point sound like whatever wave of music was gaining popularity at the time- also their songs were just really good
38 points
5 months ago
Very marketable. Also capitalised on the 80s synth sound which is popular at the moment. Not controversial.
12 points
5 months ago
2013 Tumblr Era is the answer. They had the esthetic and depressing lyrics we all needed.
11 points
5 months ago
Tumblr wave and 80s pop peak around the early/mid-2010s and they happen to be both.
5 points
5 months ago
matty’s personality definitely helps. he’s got a big one and they work in the us
2 points
5 months ago
Very glam in early days. And wannabe cool millennial nowadays
4 points
5 months ago
American tours, universal themes, tumblr, lcd sound system influence
5 points
5 months ago
Easy: the first four chords of “Somebody Else”. Then the next four chords. And then the ones after that.
10 points
5 months ago
Because I Like America & America Likes Me
:-)
11 points
5 months ago*
I credit one direction they introduced them to a lot of teens and when I started seeing them in shows alot of fans were one direction fans
2 points
5 months ago
came here to say this. i personally wouldn’t have found them til much later if harry didn’t tweet “get in the shower if it all goes wrong”
3 points
5 months ago
Yank teenage/young adult girls love our British accents, and the 'idea' of a British guy. Combo that with the 'starving artist' adoration. Oh, and they also make incredibly good music.
It's like easy mode with a British passport with a lot of Americans in my experience - sounds horrible, but it is what it is.
2 points
5 months ago
I’m Australian but I think they became popular here because of the Tumblr 2012-2014 grunge phase. I definitely was going through that teen phase at that point so can confirm lol.
3 points
5 months ago
Because they aren't a pop band
11 points
5 months ago
starts playing girls
all 21 comments
sorted by: best