Many bands measure their value by whether or not they’ve made it into the United States market. The pinnacle of success is, after all, our capitalistic economy teeming with overeager teenagers willing to pay outrageous prices for stadium fare. British band The 1975 has already entered our market, with over a million twitter followers and a platinum-selling album with a second soon to be released in February. Their latest single “UGH!” has already been played a sickening amount of times.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., Little Comets released their third studio length album, “Hope is Just a State of Mind,” in 2015 to little fanfare. Although lovingly crafted and brilliantly written, not a single song has topped the charts. Unlike The 1975, Little Comets is almost completely unknown in the States and in the U.K. as well, with a little under 30,000 twitter followers.

One could argue that it’s a matter of sound: The 1975 has “it,” while Little Comets just does not. But the indie bands both share striking similarities. While The 1975 tends toward indie rock and Little Comets leans more indie pop, they both have enough tantalizing electronic influences to be at least distant cousins.

Lyrically, they’re also very similar. While The 1975 mostly mumbles inaudible words with the exception of the distinctive song “Chocolate,” Little Comets spits out enough big words to make even the most verbose pull out a dictionary. “Fiscal,” “Addendum” and even “Darfur” are the types of words that they love to casually throw around.

If that’s not enough, the bands even played together in the U.S. at The Governors Ball in 2014.

The 1975 is not more popular because they are simply a better band. They broke into the U.S. in the same way most indie bands do: a whole lot of skill and a whole lot of luck. What set them apart from Little Comets was another British band: One Direction. When The 1975 covered “What Makes You Beautiful” and Harry Styles tweeted about it, the relatively-unheard-of band found its place on the map. Suddenly, they were all the rage.

The 1975 also succeeded with clever marketing. A sort of mix between boy band and indie hipster kids, The 1975 became nifty enough for college kids to listen to while Directoners bought their album and worshiped them just as much. They had found a sweet spot somewhere between too cool and cool enough.

Finally, unlike Little Comets, their lyrics were relatable regardless if they were understood. While Little Comets relies heavily on social movements and politics to fuel their strange tunes, The 1975 enjoys drug references and literal highway robbery. Neither one is wrong, per say, but one certainly sells more than the other. Little Comets is simply too European in their references to be universal to the average American kid, and they aren’t endorsed by a floppy haired heartbreaker.

While Little Comets may not have the commercial success that The 1975 does, their music is still noteworthy in its original sound and quality. The 1975 has never done a song about adultery, after all. Given a few years and a boy band endorsement, it could be Little Comets blaring from your radio.

Published on February 2, 2016 at 10:07 pm