LCD Soundsystem are renowned for paying homage to their influences – and This Is Happening is the ultimate tribute album.The hugely anticipated third album from James Murphy and co builds on their previous two records, their self-titled debut and Sound of Silver, and creates an indulgent disco, packed-full of tension, emotion and out-right fun.
You could say it’s Murphy’s super-fan album. In the explosive Losing My Edge, Murhpy reels off the acts that have influenced and crafted his way into the music business and his love of all things electronic, punk and pop. “ERIC B AND RAKIM, INDEX, SOULSONIC FORCE, JUAN ATKINS, DAVID AXELROD, ELECTRIC PRUNES, GIL! SCOTT! HERON!” – he shouts like an eager record store monkey.
This Is Happening takes all these acts, and more, and moulds them into a breathtaking melange of pulsating genius.
The opener, eight-minute-plus Dance Yrself Clean, starts with a softly spoken Murphy discussing those in his “present company”, probably at an awesome party, over a simple drum and bass beat and a charming keyboard riff.
About one third of the through, it explodes into one of the best openers in recent years.
The beats pierce through you like a stun-gun, thrusting the listener into a 16-bit world as Murphy strains “DANCE YRSELF CLEAN” and “IT’S YOUR SHOW”. It’s a revelation that doesn’t falter throughout.
Drunk Girls nods towards Bowie (not for the last time on this record) and is as ridiculously catchy as the legend’s Boys Keep Swinging, creating this album’s unashamed floor-filler, i.e in the ilk ofDaft Punk Are Playing at My House and North American Scum.
The supersonic adventure of One Touch shows LCD Soundsystem at their most imposing best. The beats per minutes are cranked up a notch and the empowering vocals slides the record into darker territory.
All I Want is the album’s piece du resistance, the song they’ve been threatening to make since the band’s inception. You’ll be hard pushed to find another song that’ll come close to beating it for the song of 2010 spot.
It could be said that All I Want is another nod to Bowie, this time paying tribute to his emotion-packed extravaganza Heroes.
It’s the addictive piano melody, which was evident in 2007’s classic All My Friends, and the guitar-bending riff that propels it a higher status.
Murphy yells “Take me home!” as All I Want reaches its conclusion, knowing he’s done what he set out to do and come up with a modern day classic that is sure to be looked back on with career-affirming admiration.
I Can Change, another album highlight, plunges the album back to 16-bit electronic tones following the grandiose All I Want and encapsulates Murphy at his most delicate. It’s a rich love song, stressing just how difficult love is and his determination to change in order for the recipient of his adoration to feel the same way.
The lyric “And love is a murderer, love is a murderer/But if she calls you tonight/Everything is all right” has never been truer, possibly highlighting Murphy’s experience in relationship tribulations.
You Wanted A Hit takes a while to get warmed up with its oriental chimes but once it kicks in with the building but basic guitar riff, it blossoms into an attack towards blood thirsty record companies, while Pow Pow is a fun but unconventional listen that’s a typical LCD Soundsystem jam.
As the album draws to a conclusion, Somebody’s Calling Me slows down the pace with its amateur piano line that meshes into an bluesy-electro number but the final track, Home, is where Murphy wanted to get to in All I Want.
If this is to be LCD Soundsystem’s final track on their final ever album, they’ve done a wonderful job.
Murphy again sings “Take me home” in this funky, brass-filled triumph, urging you to forget the past and look forward to the fun-times.
The album ends with “If you’re afraid of what you need/Look around you, you’re surrounded/It won’t get any better.”
In a way, Murphy, you’re right. It won’t get any better this year. This Is Happening is class from start to finish and LCD Soundsystem have produced an album that will be viewed with immense prestige in years to come.
Their self-titled debut and Sound of Silver were lavished with no-end of superlatives. This Is Happening deserves the same amount but multiplied by at least five.
If this is the last material we’ll see from the NYC dance wizards, what a way to end proceedings.
This is stunning.
This Is Happening top three tracks:
1. All I Want
2. Dance Yrself Clean
3. I Can Change
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