This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
LABEL: DFA Records

It’s nothing new to say that falling in love with bands the way one used to has become tougher and tougher as the information super highway continues to permeate every ounce of our collective being. There’s just too much to listen to. There’s too much to love/hate/ignore. Too. Much. Music.

Yet, somehow LCD Soundsystem manages to cut through the clutter every couple years and turn in an album that effortlessly reminds you why music is the greatest thing in the world. Equal parts pretension, humility, masturbatory music nerd references, comedy, reflection, exhaustion and massive levels of cool flood each and every effort in a way that very few artists, in this day and age, can.

“...James Murphy is the only one who really understands you and This Is Happening is the proof.”

James Murphy’s brilliant collective’s most recent triumph is This Is Happening, the byproduct of several months eating, sleeping and drinking music in an old, supposedly haunted L.A. mansion. At first blush, there’s something moderately annoying about that process but, truthfully, it’s probably only because it sounds like the most incredible experience a bunch of music-obsessed human beings could ever have together. Jealousy aside, the string of tracks produced by Murphy and Co. in this glorious setting is the first legitimate contender in the battle to soundtrack your summer.

Though the album’s first single is the raucous, beer swilling “Drunk Girls,” we’ll just go ahead and get this out of the way before we delve into the good stuff—other than the last 1:15, this song is mostly terrible and not worth the effort. If you buy the digital album, you have permission to just delete it. Forget it ever existed. There’s too much good to allow this one to sink the ship.

“Jealousy aside, the string of tracks produced by Murphy and Co. in this glorious setting is the first legitimate contender in the battle to soundtrack your summer.”

That, however, is the album’s lone blemish and things are pure audio gravy in every other nook and sonic cranny.

The best? Without a doubt, the finest bits of all the great things about LCD Soundsystem can be found rolled into the epic nine minutes (and then some) of “You Wanted A Hit.” From disco key blips and quirky knob tweaks to handclaps and Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” inspired steady pumping guitar pistons, Murphy masterfully paces the track, consistently steering it along the razor fine line between dance party meltdown and zone out drone. It’s a winner.

Other all-star joints? The string is long, friends, but chances are the next few months will see a 93% chance of spontaneous dance parties springing up across the land whenever “Dance Yrself Clean” is played over a decent set of speakers. And if you can’t find it in your heart to smile when the mesmerizing, Cyndi Lauper-inspired “Home” becomes fully formed around the 1:24 mark, you’re probably just a terrible person not worth knowing anyway.

Simply put, this one is not to be slept on. Forget the iPad or any of the other crappy things the internets will tell you to buy in preparation for the warm weather coming—James Murphy is the only one who really understands you and This Is Happening is the proof.


REVIEWED BY ALEC BRINEGAR
ALEC’S FAVORITE TRACKS: “Dance Yrself Clean” • “You Wanted A Hit” • “Home”