James Murphy makes great tracks. He isolates cowbells and places the microphone at just the right distance from the hi-hat so you get the analog-crisp sound post-punk bands took for granted because they didn't know how good they had it with engineers like Paul Hardiman and Rick Walton. Murphy, obsessed with Can and Liquid Liquid, has the right influences at the right time in the right city-- which is to say, if he couldn't be French, New York is the best place for LCD Soundsystem. Like Parisian duo Daft Punk (who get their second Murphy shout-out on this album), LCD makes substance from style, content from form, something from nothing. That's a rockist attitude, of course, but then LCD Soundsystem is a rockist fantasy: full command of the history with none of the high-caloric obligation to "meaning" or purity. Murphy even puts together a live show that out-pummels the noise bands a borough over.
LCD Soundsystem has been anticipated since Murphy's 2002 splash "Losing My Edge"/"Beat Connection", and like it, makes clear that although his musical reference points (Suicide, Eno, Can, ESG, Talking Heads, the Fall, and on and on and on) are upfront enough to be conspicuous, they never quite cross the line into hipster-wallpaper. In fact, if anything, Murphy has a given a good name to cooler-than-thou poses, presenting his music, if not irony-free, then as earnestly as can be expected from someone emulating Mark E. Smith's pronunciation-uh. And yes, his flare for singles is pretty amazing: "Losing My Edge"/"Beat Connection" and "Yeah" are two of the most ubiquitous 12-inches released in the last 20 years-- at least in the neck of the woods where folks are likely to get the Fall and Suicide references. Heck, even "Give It Up" rises near the top of DFA's crop of punky dance anthems, and that the second disc appending LCD Soundsystem contains all of this music shows both generosity and considerable foresight on the part of Murphy and DFA.
However, it's still debatable whether or not Murphy makes great records. Where the singles emphasize his strengths-- impeccable arrangements (especially his signature drums-plus-drum machine attack), pacing (the dynamic expansion of "Yeah (Stupid Version)" is almost unchartable) and the gift of less-is-more-- his debut full-length lacks similar allure for almost the exact same reasons. It doesn't so much have a pace, per se, as nine distinct flavors of the LCD Soundsystem agenda, be it cowbell-ridden dancepunk, homages to any number of 70s and 80s hip rock icons, or rubbery would-be house jams just sloppy enough not to qualify as house. The production is as you would expect-- and therein lies the letdown: There aren't very many surprises here, either in the bank of sounds Murphy pulls out, or in how he uses them. Still, that wouldn't be bad if the songs lived up to the promise of his singles. The worst I can say about LCD Soundsystem is that there are precious few moments that stand up next to his most lauded singles.
But we'll start with the best-- which is to say, he'll end with the best: "Great Release" is a very non-dancefloor number pulled out of the Big Book of Ambient Pop. Beginning with soft, pulsating drum machine pliff, the song glides for more than two minutes using only a stately chord progression on piano before Murphy's distant, obviously Eno-cribbed vocal enters. The song builds and builds, in a manner typical of many other LCD Soundsystem songs, but does so via lush echo, like ocean waves, watercolored synthesizers and Murphy's "dat-da-da-da" harmony vocals near the end. And where "Great Release" shines with a symphonic glimmer, "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" and "Disco Infiltrator" stick to bare-basic LCD pump; yet, they're just as rewarding. (In fact, "Disco Infiltrator" should really have been this album's first single, rather than the comparatively indistinct Fall rip "Movement").
"Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up" is a near-brilliant pastiche of both White Album Beatles and Dark Side Floyd, with only its telegraphed George Harrison lead-guitar riff at the end and chord progression ripped from "Dear Prudence" keeping it from making as grand an emotional impact as it might. Likewise, "Too Much Love" seems just a bit too close to Talking Heads for comfort, though as with all things Murphy, the imitation is masterful. House-centric songs like "On Repeat" (a low key take on the structure of "Yeah", right down to the disco explosion near the end) and the excellent "Tribulations" (which prudent fans will know leaked months ago) should sate the danceheads, though they might have wished for more songs like the latter and some of the fat trimmed from the former. Ultimately, LCD Soundsystem suffers a similar fate: plenty of good-not-great stuff, and a tad unfocused.
