{"id":1194,"date":"2017-11-14T13:06:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T18:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inside.gcschool.org\/gracegazette\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2018-04-03T12:38:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T17:38:50","slug":"lcd-soundsystems-american-dream-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/lcd-soundsystems-american-dream-album-review\/","title":{"rendered":"LCD Soundsystem\u2019s American Dream Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo tell the truth, this could be <\/span>the last time<\/span><\/i>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Since the release of their self-titled first album in 2005, LCD Soundsystem have become more than a bunch of washed-up 50 year olds with keyboards trying to relive the 80s. Regardless of how you feel about overdriven synth basses and cowbell solos, there\u2019s no one else that does what they do. They played with our hearts in 2012 by feigning retirement, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s more LCD. How could we complain?<\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you who are not familiar\u2013some preface:<\/p>\n

James Murphy, New Jersey native and LCD frontman, began life as a musician rather inauspiciously. \"\"Murphy featured in New York indie punk bands Pony, Falling Man, and Speedking from the 80s to the end of the 21st century. He dropped out of NYU and turned down a job writing for then unknown TV series \u201cSeinfeld.\u201d Overall, not the makings of the musical savant that sips red wine before serenading sold out stadiums we adore today. It was not until 2001 that Murphy assembled the group of sonic wizards, Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney, Gavin Russom, Tyler Pope, and Al Doyle, to synthesize the sex, cynicism and sounds of everything relevant in the last 40 years of Western culture. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the release of their first single, \u201cLosing My Edge,\u201d in 2002 and their eponymous album in 2005, the band received great critical acclaim, and ascended to god status through\u00a0<\/span>their transcendent live shows and follow-up album \u201c<\/span>Sound of Silver<\/span><\/a>\u201d in 2007. They toured and toured, building their reputation as one of the most unique yet relatable voices of the 21st century. Rumors emerged in 2008 about the potential splitting of the band, heart-wrenching news that was soon quelled two years later. They released their third album \u201c<\/span>This is Happening<\/span><\/a>,\u201d <\/span><\/i>supposedly their last album according to Murphy, and the electronic music scene was never the same. Considered by the group to be their strongest work, the album was meant to conclude the trilogy of sound exploration that the band had embarked on. They announced a gig in 2011 at Madison Square Garden on April 2, confirming that it would be their last show ever. The performance lasted four hours, featuring artists like <\/span>Arcade Fire<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Reggie Watts.<\/span><\/a> And then, they were over. Murphy continued to collaborate with artists through the following years such as \u201c<\/span>Reflektor<\/span><\/a>\u201d by aforementioned group Arcade Fire, and even played a role in David Bowie\u2019s final album, \u201c<\/span>Blackstar<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span> They went quiet for four years until 2015 when they released a Christmas song, \u201cChristmas Will Break Your Heart.\u201d And just as abruptly as they had vanished, they were headlining Coachella and working on their next album, \u201cAmerican Dream<\/span>,<\/span><\/i>\u201d which they released this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now that we are all caught up: <\/span><\/p>\n

The most frequent criticism of \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d has coincidentally been the basis for the most frequent excitement surrounding the album\u2013more of the same. After a four year hiatus, the expectations for the album were incredibly lofty, yet to most fans it did not really matter what was released, just that something was put out with LCD Soundsystem’s name on it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Critics of the project have belittled it as a recycling of past sounds and concepts\u2013a mere playlist of the B-sides from past works. And this theory would certainly make sense, as the group really had no definitive expectations from fans except to make <\/span>something<\/span><\/i>. However, an analysis of the lyricism and the sonic arsenal explored in the album reveals a weary, yet determined, catharsis for Murphy and for the band. <\/span><\/p>\n

The three singles put out: \u201cTonite,\u201d \u201cCall the Police\u201d and \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d embody the evolution of the band\u2019s sound in just three tracks. \u201cTonite\u201d rolls as a satirical anthem directed at the modern clubbing fanatics who desire nothing less than to experience every possible movie clich\u00e9 immediately, or \u201ctonite.\u201d The squirty, jumping bass line that opens the song directly pulls the listener back to the nightclub banger hits of their first record. Along with a minimalistic dance beat and vintage synth chords, the rhythm section provides nothing more than a looped foundation for Murphy to essentially slam poetry his way through his social commentary of dance hits only talking about \u201ctonight, tonight, tonight,\u201d and \u201can outsider\u201d looking inwards at this process of cyclical commercializing\u2013a reference to Murphy himself\u2013as the \u201chobbled veteran of the disk shop inquisition <\/span>set to parry the cocksure of men’s sick filth with my own late era middle-aged ramblings.\u201d Murphy essentially summarizes what hehas been doing for the past twenty years through his own bombastic prose that only a true witness to this transformation of society could describe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCall the Police\u201d follows suit as the chronological step from pure dance music to electronic rock. This was more or less prompted by the fact that they began to use guitars as the centerpiece to their triumphant songs. Famous tracks such as \u201cAll My Friends\u201d and \u201cAll I Want\u201d focused heavily on lead guitar riffs to structure the song, which gave the band a more accessible aesthetic, as they began to push off from their foundation of pure electronic. If it was by anyone else, \u201cCall the Police\u201d would be a rock song. Save an airy synth providing a backup chord progression, the song\u2019s instrumentation revolves around the core instrumentation of a rock group. The resilience of the humming bassline and laboring drum line keep the track in motion while a soaring lead guitar provides support Murphy\u2019s pleading vocals culminate in a call to action. Throughout the song Murphy lists the absurdities of listener\u2019s life, \u201cThe old guys are frightened and frightening to behold…your head is on fire, you\u2019re hands are getting weak.\u201d He\u2019s engaging us to basically renounce our ideals and abandon logic, just embrace the chaos and \u201ccall the police.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The title track, \u201cAmerican Dream,\u201d does not immediately fit into the album. It is poignant and touching, as much of their work is, yet the instrumentation is embedded with such a synthesized pulse that the track bears a closer resemblance to a Mozart crescendo than an LCD Soundsystem record. \"\"From the first knocks of the reverbed snare that resembles a water droplet falling onto a smooth marble that mimic a heartbeat and the buzzing bassline that crawls through the progression, the track holds the sonical profundity to bring you to tears within seconds. The dazzling synth lead that sparkles downwards into the verse represents a sound uncharted by the band up until now. Then, Murphy begins to sing and to yearn, and the pathos of your life regrets flood into your mind, and you are left at the whim of a true lyrical genius who captures the ineffability of life and the human condition in his dissertation on the well known notion of the \u201cAmerican Dream.\u201d The first lines perfectly capture the coming to terms with his age and desire to regain his youth that Murphy must endure: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWake up with somebody near you<\/span><\/p>\n

And at someone else’s place<\/span><\/p>\n

You took acid and looked in the mirror<\/span><\/p>\n

Watched the beard crawl around on your face<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, the revolution was here<\/span><\/p>\n

That would set you free from those bourgeoisie<\/span><\/p>\n

In the morning everything’s clearer<\/span><\/p>\n

When the sunlight exposes your age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d marks the moment when he has \u201clost his edge\u201d and is now accepting the fact that he was a victim of this \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d fever. It drove him \u201cinsane,\u201d sacrificing \u201cself-preservation\u201d for interesting relationships and choosing to feel free over lasting relationships. It\u2019s a condition we all share, as he elegantly phrases, \u201cbecause the body wants what it\u2019s terrible at keeping, oh.\u201d We all pursue this idealized version of what our life could be. The only difference is that Murphy has been there, and now he is living the regrets and scars of that pursuit.<\/p>\n

While other tracks may not stand out for their lyricism or philosophical value, the rest of the album holds its own. The lead track, \u201cOh Baby,\u201d is a vintage diner love song. The uncouthness of the overdriven, romping bass combined with the almost foolish simplicity of the drum part excellently complements the role Murphy assumes of the lost lover, pleading his spouse to recognize and accept his love. <\/span><\/p>\n

Certain songs slip through the cracks that don\u2019t hold enough power to match the aforementioned tracks. \u201cI Used To\u201d and \u201cChange Yr Mind,\u201d while both discussing the difficult topics of nostalgia and appeasing an ever growing fan base, respectively, fail to stick out sonically, as the airy surrealness of \u201cI Used To\u201d and the haphazard, brash guitar licks of \u201cChange Yr Mind\u201d don\u2019t add as meaningful contributions to the universe of sound that the album has forged in the other tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOther Voices\u201d and \u201cEmotional Haircut\u201d are the obligatory club anthems that still manage to differentiate themselves from previous albums, as the theme of age and life taking its toll really push through with some powerful lyrics. In \u201cOther Voices,\u201d Nancy Huang reprises her mid-song speeches through an intercom-esque vocal modifier from the track \u201cGet Innocuous!\u201d to deliver some verses that refer to the paranoia that stems from the changes in modern times that Murphy and company can\u2019t keep up with:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what’s happening and it’s freaking you out<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve heard it, heard it<\/span><\/p>\n

And it sounds like the nineties<\/span><\/p>\n

Who can you trust<\/span><\/p>\n

And who are your friends<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is impossible<\/span><\/p>\n

And who is the enemy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On \u201cEmotional Haircut,\u201d drummer Pat Mahoney delivers one of the most inspired percussion parts ever put on an LCD Soundsystem project. His drumming sounds like a wheezing steampunk apparatus that barrels through the song, matching the desperation exhibited in Murphy\u2019s lyrics about a washed up artist, attempting to remain relevant through a new weave. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, the two tracks \u201cHow Do You Sleep?\u201d and \u201cBlack Screen\u201d are both songs about other people, but in opposite ways. \u201cHow Do You Sleep?\u201d is essentially a dis-track to former LCD Soundsystem producer <\/span>Tim Goldsworthy,<\/span><\/a> who basically abandoned the group in 2001, breaching contract, and attempted to steal their money. The track is unnerving. Fans would never really characterize Murphy as angry, but as he \u201cstands on the shore facing east\u201d (a reference to Goldsworthy\u2019s absconsion to the UK from New York), the listener can almost feel the same abuse meant for Goldsworthy in the blaring synth bass that bounces in, breaking the tension of Murphy\u2019s strained, contemptuous vocals. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, the final track, \u201cBlack Screen,\u201d is not a song meant for the fans. Murphy has attributed David Bowie as one of his, if not the most, important influence on his music career. Murphy collaborated with Bowie on \u201cBlackstar,\u201d and the two shared a friendship that only two bona fide geniuses of music and life could truly harbor. In the song, a somber exhaling lead synth plays out a melancholy melody that leads into Murphy\u2019s letter to a friend. He explains his remorse for not doing more to maintain their relationship and pays tribute to all that Bowie did for him. He reminisces through a drowning vocal modifier that perfectly emotes the pathos and tragedy of the homage being performed. <\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you that didn\u2019t understand the opening line, it is the hook of the verse pulled from their track \u201cAll My Friends.\u201d Obviously, that line bears a particular controversy, and perhaps the release of \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d has even reduced the effect of its power. Yet, this album has, in total, cemented the legacy of LCD Soundsystem as facilitators of catharsis and revelation. In the album, they cut straight for the heart, using their own insecurities and issues to help the listener understand, and they do so with a sound that continues to evolve and does more than just rehash their former glories. They use the criticism of their age as their weapon of choice. They embrace it and derive the touching reality of \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d from it. To Murphy and LCD, the human condition is far from perfect, but as Murphy wails in the title track \u00a0as a comfort and a reminder: \u201cthat\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo tell the truth, this could be the last time.\u201d Since the release of their self-titled first album in 2005, LCD Soundsystem have become more than a bunch of washed-up… Continue reading “LCD Soundsystem\u2019s American Dream Album Review”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[30,33,102],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-albumreview","tag-americandream","tag-lcdsoundsystem"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-jg","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/232726_1323961.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1323,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions\/1323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}