So I am walking down the street and listening to my new favorite song "Dance Yrself Clean" while struggling with a serious case of writer's block, namely how to say what I want to say about about this damn album. The song is playing and the night is one of those perfect spring nights clocking in around 72 with a breeze blowing from the west. Sure, it's pleasant now, but that breeze is the tip of a storm front ready to bring two full days of thunderstorms to my world. No need to worry about that now, just let the music sink in and feed off of some of that kinetic energy in the air. Then it all suddenly clicks, the song, the album, my immediate situation as an aged-indie rocker who still, to quote Triumph, has the "magic power of the music in me," and for a brief moment I feel enlightened, and "Dance Yrself Clean" is my soundtrack. Indeed, this is happening.
Looking back at that moment I am amazed at how James Murphy a/k/a LCD Soundsystem could create such a perfect song; one that can effect you so intensely on a personal level, but, as they used to say on American Bandstand, 'has a good beat, and you can dance to it.' He is also the same guy who, though so much self-referential irony, deflates what just happened. Nevertheless, in that moment of listening to his music, all of my own personal relations and emotions are imploded and then expanded. If there had been a camera...only if, I could have been a star, because in that moment, on that street, I was the character who finally let go of whatever baggage I was carrying around, and resolved myself to make things right, at least temporarily, much like a character in a Noah Baumbach film. After all, there was a reason Baumbach tapped Murphy to score his latest film "Greenberg." Looking back at that moment it strikes me that the success of Murphy's music is dependent on our own life experiences, our own existential situations and how well he is able to reflect them in his songs.
Over the past ten years Murphy has made a career as a chronicler, commentator and humorist, mocking the very scene he helped create. His DFA label redefined dance music, and laid the groundwork for the massive electro-clash movement that has engulfed indie rock over the past few years. Murphy himself has crafted some of the finest dance/punk/electro in existence. He has also taken a huge piss on all of it in his role as LCD Soundsystem.
I met Murphy once while he was a drummer for the much under-appreciated indie rock band Pony. He was affable and witty, even though he was sporting Scott Stapp hair. He said that ultimately he wanted to put the whole scene on display in Las Vegas. He was talking about indie rock at the time, but I have a feeling he still feels that way about the electro/punk he has wrought. I can't help but feel that LCD Soundsystem is, and has always been, his project to exploit the scene writ large in flashing colors and sparkling lights. Maybe Vegas is more of an ironic state of mind, rather than a geographical location.
Irony aside, as we age there is a tendency to want our life and the music in it to mean something. We will, on occasion, step back and take stock in where we are and where we have been, and who we are and who we have been. Through all of the irony, Murphy's music has gradually become a reflection of that aging process within a subculture bound together by shared musical experiences, similar interests and values shaped by D.I.Y. culture, as well as our struggles to remain authentic when interacting with the "real world," as our parents used to call it.
The younger kids may not get it yet, as this Hipster Runoff critique eludes to, ironically or not.
But they will.
This is hipster music for aged-hipsters. It may be a turn-off for some, but "This is Happening" is the best adult music album since the heyday of the Talking Heads, which will surely please Mr. Murphy to no end, since it is clear that David Byrne and Brian Eno are as much responsible for "This Is Happening" as is Murphy.
There are other influences at work here as well, nearly all immediately recognizable to those of us who came of age in the 80's (OMD ("I Can Change"), Depeche Mode and Meat Beat Manifesto ("One Touch"), and Talking Heads' side group Tom Tom Club), but the Head's "Speaking in Tongues" is the most obvious point of reference, both in substance and style. I doubt that pointing out that this album sounds like someone else is going to bother Murphy too much, since he has always worn his influences on his sleeve. What has elevated him as an artist is the emergence his own unique personality and voice, a voice that has grown stronger with each subsequent album.
He has turned from bratty satirist into a thoughtful commentator. "Pow Pow" is an epic dissection of right v. left, hip v. uptight, white v. black that provides more food for thought than any position or answers. "You Wanted A Hit," finds Murphy entrenching himself to maintain his authenticity in the face of increasing popularity as a musician. "You wanted a hit, but maybe we don't do hits, I try and I try and it ends up feeling kind of wrong," Murphy sings over his most minimal composition on the album, promising that this is still our music, not theirs, no matter how many units it sells. On the more personal songs, "All I Want," and "I Can Change," there is a new directness to Murphy's exploration of human emotions in the face of breakdowns and breakups.
If there is any drawback to "This is Happening," it is that it isn't as immediately satisfying as the extraordinary "Sound of Silver." Instead the album reveals itself over time making for a satisfying long-term commitment. That lack of immediacy is part and parcel of Murphy's maturation on "This is Happening," and while Murphy may have traded in easy fun for thoughtfulness, some listeners may not find as much to love here. For those with the ears to listen though, "This is Happening" is an expansion of Murphy's many talents and one that will become your new soundtrack if you let it.
"Drunk Girls"
"All I Want"
"You Wanted A Hit"
Okay, you win. Giving this one another spin.
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