Album: Sound Of Silver
Artist: LCD Soundsystem
Born: Princeton Junction, New Jersey
Released: March 2007
Genre: Dance Punk
As an announcement of a major musical talent, few first singles could beat 2002's Losing My Edge, which had James Murphy telling us how he "was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids at CBGB's". The song was less about how Murphy was losing his edge as a DJ to "better-looking people with more talent" and more about him poking fun at himself for his pretentiousness and desperation. The long list of highbrow musical references in the song, from Captain Beefheart and Sun Ra to post-punk acts This Heat and Pere Ubu, is not used by Murphy to brag about his good taste but is more a device to sigh at his record collecting obsessiveness. Although LCD Soundsystem is definitely part of a lineage of hip NYC bands, following in the footsteps of the Velvet Underground, Television, Patti Smith, Talking Heads and Blondie, Murphy also has a high-degree of self-awareness that makes his songwriting some of the most original in the past decade. His eponymous debut LP, 2005's LCD Soundsystem, contained several singles (including Losing My Edge) and several other great tracks (like Disco Infiltrator and Tribulations), but Sound of Silver has a greater level of cohesiveness as an album and packs a more powerful emotional punch. Some like to point to Murphy's originality in blurring the musical lines between rock (specifically post-punk and krautrock) and electronic music (especially the 80s synth sound of The Human League and New Order), but for me the quality of his songwriting is the most compelling aspect of his music.
As an announcement of a major musical talent, few first singles could beat 2002's Losing My Edge, which had James Murphy telling us how he "was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids at CBGB's". The song was less about how Murphy was losing his edge as a DJ to "better-looking people with more talent" and more about him poking fun at himself for his pretentiousness and desperation. The long list of highbrow musical references in the song, from Captain Beefheart and Sun Ra to post-punk acts This Heat and Pere Ubu, is not used by Murphy to brag about his good taste but is more a device to sigh at his record collecting obsessiveness. Although LCD Soundsystem is definitely part of a lineage of hip NYC bands, following in the footsteps of the Velvet Underground, Television, Patti Smith, Talking Heads and Blondie, Murphy also has a high-degree of self-awareness that makes his songwriting some of the most original in the past decade. His eponymous debut LP, 2005's LCD Soundsystem, contained several singles (including Losing My Edge) and several other great tracks (like Disco Infiltrator and Tribulations), but Sound of Silver has a greater level of cohesiveness as an album and packs a more powerful emotional punch. Some like to point to Murphy's originality in blurring the musical lines between rock (specifically post-punk and krautrock) and electronic music (especially the 80s synth sound of The Human League and New Order), but for me the quality of his songwriting is the most compelling aspect of his music.
Two of the most moving tracks on the album are Someone Great and All My Friends, both completely lacking in the ironic detachment normally associated with New York bands, instead full of self-effacing humour. New Order's influence on All My Friends is strong, blending haunting synths with a strong emotional undertow, in this case Murphy's feeling of a midlife crisis as he surveys the crowded dancefloor surrounding him. Someone Great is possibly even sadder, touching on the age-old themes of love and loss ("But nothing can prepare you for it / The voice, on the other, end"). The keyboards reminiscent of The Human League and the small musical details, like the techno beat and the sound of the triangle, all add to the track's emotional power. There are funny moments too, one of my favourite being the line on the album's title track, 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". Other highlights are North American Scum, one of the more political songs, Us vs Them, which has Murphy crooning like Bowie, and New York, I Love You. The latter song closes the album and, as a piano-driven ballad, breaks from the dominant dance punk sound. All three of LCD Soundsystem's LPs are of the highest quality, but this remains my favourite of the bunch.
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