Bad branding aside, the 1975 deserve to be heard

The 1975 aren’t going to win any best band name contests. And the lengthy title of their sophomore release — I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It — won’t likely catch anybody’s ear. Bad branding aside, this indie band of twenty-something Brits who’ve been playing together 14 years deserves to be heard and I Like It When You Sleep is a good place to start.

Like their self-titled 2013 debut, this 17-song collection is padded with filler — including three mostly instrumental tracks, some six-minute-plus songs, and a pair of somber tunes that don’t really fit in with the rest of the album. Looking past the extraneous material, you’ll find a likable effort predominantly composed of catchy, ’80s-inspired new wave with an R&B backbone.

If you can recall synth-pop bands from the Decade of Decadence (think Level 42 or When in Rome), you’ll appreciate much of what I Like It When You Sleep has to offer. Lead single “Love Me” instantly grabs you with its Chic-like guitar and Duran Duran groove, while “The Sound” boasts a hooky, familiar chorus that beckons you to the dance floor. Even subtler songs, such as “Somebody Else,” a ballad that beautifully showcases singer Matthew Healy’s smooth vocals, warrant repeated listens.

Though they do occasionally venture out — “The Ballad of Me and My Brain” amps things up and “If I Believe You” is a surprisingly good, though bit prolonged, gospel tune — The 1975 are most at home in the ’80s.

• Album: I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
• Artist: The 1975
• Label: Interscope
• Songs: (1) The 1975 (2) Love Me (3) UGH! (4) A Change of Heart (5) She’s American (6) If I Believe You (7) Please Be Naked (8) Lostmyhead (9) The Ballad of Me and My Brain (10) Somebody Else (11) Loving Someone (12) I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It (13) The Sound (14) This Must Be My Dream (15) Paris (16) Nana (17) She Lays Down