Tonight: The 1975 at Bayou Music Center

Okay, so I know there’re actually several very, very cool shows happening tonight, but the absolute top of my list is happening at Bayou Music Center tonight, where ridiculously great Manchester band The 1975 will be rolling through town.

Others may disagree, but for my money, the band’s self-titled debut was one of the best damn things I heard all of last year. The music takes a slew of ’80s pop sounds — think The Police, U2, Blondie, and Tears for Fears, for four — and drives them through a filter made of old Stone Roses and Blur albums and the nouveau Afropop sound of folks like Vampire Weekend.

The result is bouncy and warm and friendly, despite the often bleak lyricism; frontman Matt Healy slurs and staggers his way along like he’s not a singer for a band but one of your best mates from years back, somebody you haven’t seen in a long time but suddenly get to reconnect with in a rush.

There’s a resemblance to more “epic”-sounding pop-rock bands these days, it’s true, but the lyrics themselves are much more down-to-earth than a lot of ’em, focusing instead on the exploits of a gang of kids out on the street, falling in love and getting hurt and getting into trouble over and over again. It’s damn near impossible to resist, I swear.

There’s no flyer, unfortunately, but heck, here’re some videos. To start with, here’s “Chocolate”:

Then there’s “Robbers”:

And last but not least, here’s “Heart Out,” where the band rocks out as their younger selves:

There you go. Fans of people like Glasvegas, Snow Patrol, & We Were Promised Jetpacks, you really, really need to listen to this band.