Posted: 04/04/07

LCD Soundsystem
Sound of Silver

Patrick Smith | contributing writer
psmith4@smcvt.edu

I'm not sure when it happened, but lately it has become apparent that the indie scene has learned to dance a little bit. Whether it is the sheer disco of the Scissor Sisters or the dance-punk of The Rapture or LCD Soundsystem, the American scene is heading down a path of understanding that Europeans reached a long time ago: music does not have to be painful and uncreative for it to be danceable. On his latest release, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is determined to make that point quite clear from the very beginning. More impressively, he isn’t content to make that his only point.

The opener, “Get Innocuous,” while being one of the stranger commands from a musician, shows off Murphy's DJ sensibilities, building and layering the beats through the first two minutes until the vocals start. It’s disturbingly catchy and compelling as it gets more complicated and louder. Each new rhythm of beats is put on top of the other, creating a bigger whole that is only finalized with the vocals. If some part of your body is not attempting something of a dance during this track, then you should just give up now.

Murphy’s vocals demand acknowledgement throughout the album, and the opener is as good a place as any to start. His vocals, or his guests (here Nancy Whang) always play right into what he is doing with the music, but not in predictable ways. He is never mundane or cringe worthy in the way one might expect from someone who has done more work as an engineer and DJ. In fact, he is often a better, more versatile singer than a lot of more traditional bands' lead singers.

The last song that is almost straight-up dance beat is the third track, “North American Scum,” where Murphy is out to remind everyone that he is not European just because of the music he makes. Here he having the same sort of fun that he displayed on his last album, his tongue in cheek praise still delves into affection:“ New York’s the greatest if you get someone to pay the rent.”

From there, he takes things down to a level of synthesizer that is more mainstream, something fans of The Postal Service or Junior Boys would appreciate. It’s a break from the dancing, but without a drop in quality. Just because Murphy slows the song doesn’t mean he loses any of the complexity that made the previous tracks as good as they are, with multiple layers to the synth, one on top of the other.

By the midway point, “All My Friends,” Murphy makes a move to remove any possible doubt about his vocal talents. The beat is not as complicated as on the other songs, but he finds something enjoyable and stays with it, with only the occasional drum roll to mix things up. In a shorter track, this could be enjoyable without any significant vocal effort, but “All My Friends” is seven and a half minutes long, long enough for the song to become dreadful. It’s a song of lost time and nostalgia, and well, friends. His vocals do all the hard work in making those feelings get beyond the lyrics. When things could take a wrong turn with a clumsy vocalist, “we set controls for the heart of the sun/one of the ways that we show our age/and if the sun comes up-if the sun comes up/if the sun comes up and I still don’t want to stagger home” Murphy makes them a relatable memory, and a welcome Pink Floyd reference.

His style takes another turn on “Us v Them.” He kicks back into dance mode, but puts in a stronger punk rock influence, turning out a song any The Rapture fan would instantly love. If someone wonders what dance-punk is and wants a sample, sending them to “Us v Them” would be one of the best options out there. Again, Murphy inject wit into his lyrics with lines like “cuz all the good people want to rescue/all the smart people wanna talk to you/and all the clever people wanna tell you/that all the little people wanna dance (it’s true!).”

He follows this with the most rock heavy track, “Watch the Tapes,” which features distinct drums, bass, and guitar, letting the keyboard play a less obvious role. Fittingly, it is the shortest track on the album. What yet again makes this switch in styles work so well is Murphy's vocal talent. It is understandable for someone to switch sound of their songs, but to change vocals so much is a skill that makes him stand out. When he starts to sound more like a straight punk singer than a DJ singing along with his recorded beats, Murphy takes the album further than his competition.

So, of course, he switches things completely on the next song, “Sound of Silver.” It’s a very bass heavy beat, the type of thing most people think of when they think of techno. To pull it off, Murphy deepens his voice more than on the previous tracks, and in traditional American techno style, repeats the same five lines over and over throughout. When it just might get boring if it wasn’t so good, Murphy creates interludes during which he plays with all the tools at his disposal.

Finally, the album closes with a ballad: “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” It's a perfect closer, a love song for a city that he feels isn’t the same, yet still loves enough to dedicate the album to. Murphy goes into almost spoken word mode, singing as melancholically as he can, and we learn he has another vocal skill. In a clichéd world, the lighters would be out as he takes us over the simple piano play, with quiet back up. Like any good rock ballad, any fan of Queen, Murphy cranks things in the end, guitars rip, pianos are played harder, and hey, there are some drums.