Being Funny In A Foreign Language - The 1975: Review
The 1975
are one of the biggest English indie and pop acts of the last decade. The four-piece have been dropping music for over a decade now to massive commercial success and spots of critical acclaim along the way. In the process, they've developed a cult fanbase that has followed them as they've expanded their reach to various genres and styles. Being Funny In A Foreign Language is the band's 5th album which features production from Jack Antonoff.
Review by Lav:
Liking The 1975 is no longer a guilty pleasure. The days of quietly jamming to Sex, Chocolate, Girls or The City in my bedroom are out the door for one of the biggest acts in the world, who are no strangers to their fair share of critical acclaim. On their third album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships they took a huge step in the right direction sending their sound into new and exciting directions without abandoning their pop sentimentalities. They dialed that up a notch on their follow-up Notes On A Conditional Form but significantly over-indulged in the experiment and released some songs that really didn't need to see the light of day. On Being Funny the band is dialing back their ambitions in both genre and length and bringing Jack Antonoff on board for a much more straightforward collection of indie pop songs.
Every 1975 album so far has at least one single that just hits it out of the park and I don't want to wait one more second before talking about this records edition, I'm In Love With You. It's the perfect synthesis of their development as a band maintaining the same lovesick song topics and poppy sentimentalities but with a more dexterous instrumental that makes every emotion feel even more blissful and every climax higher reaching. I could easily see this being one of my favorite singles of the year.
It's not the only song on the record that I really enjoyed either. The band have been getting better and better at making their self-titled intro tracks actually mean something to the record and this one is the best yet. The 1975 starts off with a bouncy piano riff like it's All My Friends or something but quickly trades out any hint of sentimentality for Matty's instantly recognizable brand of art school wit. It's funny despite the nihilism and the pressure building up in the background of the song's thick haze. The other best deep cut is Oh Caroline. Even though I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the dancy 80s throwbacks on The 1975's second album there's occasionally a hook that is so utterly infectious that I can't resist it and that's this song. The fluttery little keys and Matty's playful bridge are perfect set-up for the eruption onto the hook and I've been obsessed since I first heard it.
The second half of the record is a lot more reserved by comparison and it really starts with the fourth single All I Need To Hear. The song sees Matty reflecting on needing the love of someone close to him above all else and while it isn't rewriting the book on the idea of the instrumental presentation surrounding it, the song is sweet and performed with the appropriate restraint. I'm also pretty fond of the lead single Part Of The Band which earned some "1975 going Bon Iver" comparisons that feel like a bit of a stretch. The slightly touched-up vocals and strings are reminiscent of the last two Bon Iver records but not quite as experimental, though they still sound excellent on the track.
Wintering stands out quite a bit on the back end of the album as a tongue and cheek indie rock song. My biggest complaint is the lack of life in the instrumental, best highlighted by the wiry guitar solo that gets totally buried under the rest of the instrumentation for no reason. Thankfully there are enough funny Matty-isms to keep any 1975 fan hooked. The best song on the second half of the record is About You which features some underrated production elements like wailing background synths and a brass section that slides gently in and out of the song. It makes some of the repetitive passages on the song feel so much more rewarding though if I had one complaint about the track it's that the five-and-a-half-minute runtime feels a bit indulgent.
Elsewhere on the back half we have Human Too which is the track that probably deserves those Bon Iver comparisons more. All things considered, it's a fine deep cut but it certainly gets outdone by some of the tracks surrounding it. One of those is the closing track When We Are Together. While the Urban Outfitters ass imagery of sweaters, trees and getting cancelled can be a bit much it is thankfully in service of a genuinely sweet premise. Matty's library twink demeanor actually works well for the song and it's easy for me to buy into.
This is the point where I want to cover my biggest complaint about the record which was also my biggest worry going into it, Jack Antonoff. I'm not sure exactly how much he influenced on the production side of things and this is far from the worst blandification job he's done on a popular artist, but his influence is certainly here. One of the main reasons I think the record really lacks high-end tracks is the cap Antonoff's production puts onto anything he touches, preventing it from being truly triumphant without also being painfully corny.
Happiness certainly takes a swing at this and if there's any song on the record that deserves a "dance-edit" it's this one. I think it has the potential to pair the band's catchiest bassline since Love Me with their sweetest brass section since Sincerity Is Scary but instead it plays everything pretty reserved and settles for a sweet, perfectly acceptable sound. I don't dislike the song by any means but given the pieces it had I don't know why it couldn't be made better. The one song that Jack Antonoff truly does ruin is Looking For Somebody and you can tell right away with the hammy instrumental intro. Even though the song itself has a decent moment or two the mixing is absolutely insane and for no good reason. Despite how chaotic it tries to be at many points across the track is randomly has these polished instrumental rushes flying over the song like some kind of heartland rock epic. It's not as bad as most Bleachers songs, but it's close.
Being Funny In A Foreign Language has almost everything one could look for in a good 1975 album, but it doesn't quite iron out all the creases to stand up to their best works. While it's an improvement over I Like It When You Sleep and Notes On A Conditional Form it is still fighting bland production throughout and for the first time ever I find myself much more interested in the band the quieter they are as a result. With a few great singles and a number of excellent deep cuts this is still a very solid record, though it's hard not to see the potential and realize it hasn't hit its ceiling. When push comes to shove, however, expect to see it among the best pop-rock records of the year. 7.5/10
I really enjoy this cover. I love high-contrast black-and-white imagery nd this is striking enough to pop even viewed in a group. You do have to look pretty close to see any fine detail but at first glance, you'll still get the story. I like the off-center composition and the only thing this could use is some type of fine print in the top right or left to bring it all together. 8.5/10
For more indie pop check out my review of Alvvays Blue Rev here
