LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

Genre dance Publisher DFA External Links Official LCD Soundsystem Website Official DFA Website

LCD Soundsystem's 2005 full-length might have been their official debut album, but it was actually a transitional album for the New York dance punks, as resident genius James Murphy began to distance himself from his indie geek past (highlighted by such legendary singles as "Losing My Edge" and "Yeah") with more adventurous tracks like "Disco Infiltrator" and "Tribulations". With Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem has shed the "dance punk" tag for good. Instead of coming off as an indie rock band masquerading as a dance act, Murphy and his mates are now a fully-realized dance outfit, and while Murphy continues to draw inspiration from his obviously very diverse record collection, more than ever, this second album is all about groove, melding such eclecticism into one very cohesive, not to mention electrifying whole. The band's remarkable evolution becomes apparent immediately on opening cut "Get Innocuous!" No longer present are the loosey-goosy beats and outwardly funky basslines; instead, we get a much more streamlined sound consisting of layered beats and arpeggios and stabs provided by synths, Murphy doing an impeccable Bowie imitation, only to be offset by the adorable Nancy Whang, who declares, "You can normalize / Don't it make you feel alive?"

"Time to Get Away" hints at the organic sound of old, but the groove is much more taut, punctuated by a sharply plucked bass, clavinet (shades of Stevie Wonder), and some fabulous falsetto vocals by the increasingly chameleonic Murphy. "Us v Them" boasts a roof-shaking house beat (not to mention the return of those cowbells), while "Watch the Tapes" lampoons the hipster crowd, starting off as a post punk song, and quickly building in flamboyant intensity. "Sound of Silver" boasts a classic disco groove, built around a simple, clever lyric, Murphy musing that Sound of Silver "makes you want to feel like a teenager / Until you remember the feelings of a real live emotional teenager / Then you think again."

With each track, the album gets exponentially better, it seems. The gorgeous "Someone Great" is Murphy's most emotionally resonant song to date, the combination of heartbreak and sparse synth arrangements greatly resembling Junior Boys, right down to the plaintive vocals. Much more ebullient is the epic "All My Friends", which draws heavily from the New Order formula, only to add a subtle Pavement influence as well. The best of the lot, though, is the snarky "North American Scum", which starts off with a synth intro lifted directly from Can's "Spoon", and explodes into a wickedly catchy diatribe by Murphy that takes on the anti-American faction with hilarious results. Closing with the heartfelt, piano bar lament for his hometown "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down", Murphy caps off a triumphant album, one that sees him cementing his status as one of the finest songwriters and producers today. Destined for many top ten lists, this is one of 2007's essential albums.

LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum" - Live on Late Night with David Letterman


LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum" Video