And even when they do go big, they do it in their own way.

Despite The 1975 proving themselves capable of making stadium anthems, A Brief Inquiry has more focus on soft ballads and quiet electropop. It also shows some restraint on the band’s part: it’s much tighter, shorter and doesn’t indulge in many atmospheric instrumentals as 2016’s I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. If The 1975 have always seemed like an 80s synth pop band inexplicably plopped into the 21st century, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships would be the album that firmly puts them in the modern age. So what else can the band do to get the world’s attention after brightening their sound to neon pink and naming their record after the kink that turned women on in 2008? Write about kinks that turn women on in 2018. It’s certainly not a case of class considering the push Post Malone had this year, nor is it one of frowning on dance music since we have another Daft Punk clone climbing the charts. The pop charts have been getting blander by the year so it’s a wonder why the radio hasn’t embraced Healy and company with open arms. They’re never going to win a Pulitzer or have one of their songs be a rally cry for revolution, but no one makes pop music as sweet and anthemic and amazingly not annoying as The 1975. With that out of the way, let’s get to the point that The 1975 may be the only great pop band in the world today. So if you’re looking for groundbreaking music or lyrics of deep societal critique, The 1975 will only get you a scoff and an eye roll. It certainly doesn’t help that frontman Matthew Healy looks like the puckering sad boy Tumblr pages salivate over and flaunts his English accent on record like its an accessory. They look like supermodels more obsessed with their looks than their artistry, their music is sugary guitar pop washed out with synthesizers and their lyrics flaunt unearned pretentiousness and ego.

As they wisely pointed out in the video for “The Sound,” people have a hard time determining whether or not to take the British band seriously.

Whenever one talks about The 1975, it comes with a slight turn of the head and a sharp side-eye.

The 1975 album cover 2016