LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - THIS IS HAPPENING
Published: Music Australia Guide #76, May 2010.
LCD Soundsystem
This is Happening
****
(DFA/EMI)
If you’re going to bow out, you may as well do it in style. It’s a mantra that rings true on This is Happening, purportedly the swansong record for DFA boss James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem project. Following on from what has since been touted one of contemporary dance music’s defining releases – 2007’s shudderingly brilliant Sound of Silver – this third LCD longplayer epitomises Murphy’s creative development from rough and raw dance guy, to genuine songwriter. What remains is Murphy’s rare knack for capturing and expanding a hook. Indeed, if their’s a quality that defines This is Happening, it’s Murphy’s ability to take the immediacy of two-minute pop song and morph it into an extended, sometimes transcendent, dance epic. Suffice to say, there are some great examples. The Gary Numan-esque synth line and baritone croon of One Touch stretch into an insatiable electro anthem, while a wiry drum break and jagged guitar pulse emerge from a cloud of arcane synth atmospheres on the impeccably snide You Wanted a Hit. Perhaps the finest track is the finale, Home, which sees tightly interlocked mesh of guitar, keys and percussive intricacies anchor one of Murphy’s most beautiful melodies yet. It’s not all joy here – the plonking discordance of cuts like Somebody’s Calling Me is unrealised to say the least – and a lot of these track lack the depth and vitality of Sound of Silver. Nonetheless, This is Happening is a record to be proud of. If LCD is to end, this is a fine note on which to do it.
DAN RULE
