Toss out that stack of beer-stained “Party Mix” CDs like it’s a pile of promotional copies of the Hitch soundtrack. LCD Soundsystem keeps the hipster dance party poppin’ till six in the morning with a full-length featuring the Neptunes of indie rock: James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy.
The duo drops it like it’s hot with a self-titled album of beat-making supremacy that will no doubt rotate on WMUC airwaves until the year 2050. In a packed club full of sampler-wielding, thick-rimmed scenesters, LCD Soundsystem manages the seemingly impossible task of offering something new.
While much of the album rocks, LCD manages to evade the saturated dance-punk market by producing what is essentially a dance record, with plenty of punk attitude thrown in for good measure. What results is a band sounding like the Rapture without the screaming, the Faint without the nymphomania, or the Postal Service without the pretension.
New Order or Depeche Mode without a budget might be closer to the mark, but even then LCD brings something too refreshing and original for the comparisons the indie world prides itself on.
Aside from having a title that proves indie kids haven’t gotten too snobbish for a sense of humor, album opener “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” boasts a Rolling-Stonesy swagger sounding like a badass bar band with a drum machine.
“Too Much Love” is damn sexy with a monotone dialogue overtop beats that sound inspired by both the Factory Records camp and by the actual noises of a factory. Pistons pop and eerie machinery creaks give it a twilight atmosphere.
Much of LCD Soundsystem follows suit with tumbling electronic rhythms and the short melodic hooks that make dance music so physically satisfying — but compositionally vapid.
This is apparently no longer the case, as “Never as Tired as When I’m Waking Up” provides that perfect Brit-pop-flavored mid-album reprieve. Like tearing pages from the Beatles songbook, the duo steals chord changes like a keg tap, but to good effect. The track buoys along in a melodious lazy river, with a hip under-produced aesthetic that makes it seem like LCD never tries too hard.
Originally released on Murphy’s Brooklyn-based trendsetting DFA label, the album is being re-released today on the most major of major labels, Capitol Records.
That means normal people might get their hands on the record, making LCD Soundsystem totally uncool for the Black Cat crowd. But don’t look so glum, indie-rockers: You had a great run at the name-dropping obscurity race with LCD. Besides, there are plenty of other bands that make no money to latch onto.
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem