There are a lot of fun things that have come into my life because of social media.
Sometimes it comes in the form of a video showing a small otter swimming in circles because it doesn’t know any better, and sometimes it comes in the form of surprise celebrity appearances at a record shop five blocks down from your house.
Late Monday night, Manchester-born rock pop quartet The 1975 announced via social media that they would be coming to Fingerprints in downtown Long Beach for an unpromoted meet and greet.
By 4 p.m. Tuesday, over 600 Southern California fans had wrapped their way down the intersection of 4th Street and Elm Avenue, clutching black-and-white vinyls of the band’s debut album or bright pink cassette tapes of the two newest singles, which were handed out by The 1975 street team members free of charge.
To get a wristband ensuring entrance to the event, fans had to purchase either the CD or LP for the sophomore album “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It,” which is to be officially released this Friday.
There were no physical copies of the album to be given at the time of purchase, but that didn’t stop customers from buying out Fingerprints’ entire stock.
For those unable or unwilling to make a purchase, a stand-by line opened with the shop at 10 a.m. where fans could wait to see how many, if any, wristbands were left after everyone who had purchased a package received theirs.
Hype for the album has been brewing since June 2015 when the band went dark on all social media platforms, only to reemerge a few days later with an entirely new rebranding campaign.
The 1975, who broke into the American music scene with radio hit “Sex” in the summer of 2013, were originally known for their austere black-and-white aesthetic that held strong on Instagram and the band website. After the media blackout, though, a new era of neon colors and bright floral patterns dawned, both on social media accounts and in new promotional pieces and merchandise.
As of now, five songs from the new album have been released, either as singles or exclusive radio plays.