FEATURED

James Murphy, the king of bringing back the underground punk dance scene circa Talking Heads Remain In Light’s release, is back with his newest album, This is Happening. This is Happening is now streaming on http://www.lcdsoundsystem.com/thisishappening/ and it is quite good, and it is progress (the music, not the interesting/regressive album cover that gives a shout-out to the 80’s) and progress is always good. Getting more in touch with his emotional side, and continuing to experiment with new, and outlandish beats Murphy’s This is Happening is highlighted by “I Can Change” and its atypical LCD emotional lyrics, “Never change, never change, never change/ This is why I fell in love… But I can change, I can change, I can change, I can change/ If it helps you fall in love” that Murphy sings more beautifully than we’ve heard him before. These lyrics are adorned by an enchanting beat that makes this magical song an album standout.

The album starts with lo-fi dance song “Dance Yrself Clean.” Which sounds like it was made in Murphy’s garage with Fruityloops and a couple of trash cans intermittent with his yelps before leading into album single, “Drunk Girls.” “Drunk Girls” is an anthemic song, and a polarizing song, containing the same tongue in cheek lyrics seen in LCD’s “Daft Punk is Playing At My House.” Featuring the shout-iest most sing along lyrics a LCD song ever has, something that is sure to please drunk boys and girls everywhere, but has split his hipster fan-base in half. For the record, I’m a fan.

For the record, I’m a fan of the whole album, which continues to build on LCD’s tried and tested formula of sonically powerful dance songs that build on one another and within the song itself, while also expanding the sounds of LCD fans have come to love. Almost anything Murphy touches nowadays turns to gold, his record label DFA [Death from Above] signs the best punk/dance/electronic bands in New York and is reenergizing the lost punk-dance scene, and This is Happening is no exception from this rule. On top of all this excitement LCD is took their live show to Coachella and played an amazing show that included old favorites and several new songs from This is Happening and my favorite LCD Soundsystem song, “All My Friends.”

Hopefully I’ll be interning at Murphy’s DFA next summer so please read this, James, and hire me!