LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
Sound of Silver sees nine songs spread over 56 minutes
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Friday, 09, Mar 2007 03:44
DFA/EMI Records, out March 12th.
In a nutshell
Neo-dance punk funk. Band perhaps saving crunk for third album.
What's it all about?
LCD Soundsystem first came to the attention of the indie world with 2002 single Losing My Edge, an extended spoof of hipper-than-thou fans always desperate to proclaim their love for stuff no one else had ever heard of. Not to be outdone, these fans immediately proclaimed the single to be the next big thing.
Five years and a debut album later, the New York band - actually just one man, producer/remixer/underground label boss James Murphy - return with a second effort which once again combines keyboards, synthesisers, relentless percussion and guitars to thrilling effect.
Sound of Silver presents a familiar conundrum: songs designed to fill up the dancefloor aimed at an audience more accustomed to loitering laconically in the corner of a club. But Murphy has high hopes for the album, stating that he wants to see it in the upper reaches of the charts on either side of the Atlantic.
Who's it by?
Soon after the release of Losing My Edge, Murphy found a number of esteemed sources hailing him as the coolest man on the planet, which wasn't bad going for a guy in his mid-30s who'd once turned town a writing job on Seinfeld because he didn't think the "76 million viewers for its final episode" show would be successful.
Recorded on a farm in upstate New York, Sound of Silver is the follow up LCD Soundsystem's self-titled 2005 debut, a UK top-20 effort which produced the dazzling Daft Punk is Playing in My House but didn't quite live up to the standards set by early singles Yeah and Beat Connection.
Since then Murphy has busied himself remixing Justin Timberlake, abandoning proposed recording sessions with Britney Spears and putting out a special 45-minute single on behalf of the known music lovers at Nike.
The new album is very much one man's vision, with Murphy having written, played and sung the bulk of what blasts out the speakers. Live performances see band members such as Hot Chip guitarist Al Doyle lend a helping hand, which is unfortunate for anyone still hoping for a comeback from the 'massive drum on the back, harmonica in mouth, ten other instruments hung around body' entertainment sector.
As an example..
"And yeah, I know you wouldn't touch us with a ten-foot pole/cause we're North Americans/we are North American scum". A typically self-conscious view of knee jerk anti-Americanism.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Both the debut and Daft Punk is Playing At My House were nominated for Grammys in 2005, so a return this year looks like a decent bet.
What the others say
"This is dance-rock for grown-ups: extraordinary." - Guardian.
"Don't let this exceptional album be wasted on the hip." - Uncut.
So is it any good?
A glance at the tracklist doesn't seem to bode well for Murphy's chart expectations - nine songs spread over 56 minutes will struggle to compete with the three minute pop songs standard. But a listen to the call and response of Watch the Tapes, the swagger of North American Scum and the cowbell-driven Us V Them might soon change some minds.
Opening with 'Get Innocuous', a mix of repetitive beats and Bowie-esque vocals that slowly builds to a formidable crescendo, Sound of Silver soon adds lyrical depth to its pulsating heart. All My Friends may feature a piano sequence more insistent than a child who's just heard an ice cream van go round the corner, but lines like ".one of the ways we show our age" indicate the silver of the title is as much about forthcoming grey hairs as it is disco sheen.
The soothing throb of Something Great (partly lifted from Murphy's Nike project) and the lounge piano of closing track New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down show that Murphy can have his cake and eat it in terms of mingling wistful tracks with floor fillers. It remains to be seen whether Sound of Silver can combine popular success with indie cred, but any failure on this front shouldn't detract from the album's remarkable achievements.
9/10
Dan Jones