(Click Here To Stream The Whole Album)
When Eminem claimed "No body listens to techno" he was only half right. On its own, it can be a tedious, if not insipid, bore. Yet when paired in moderation with other genres it can act as a "musical spice" if you will - adding flourishes here and there and giving a much needed face lift to a flat performance.
Or in the case of LCD Soundsystem, it can be turned into a playground for experimentalism. Mixing and matching punk, electronica, new wave and (gulp) disco into a ready made batch of upbeat dance tunes, the band, spear headed by James Murphy, sounds like the best parts of Moby put alongside the most tamed eccentricities of The Talking Heads (if there is such a thing).
This Is Happening is the band's third album, and first since 2007's acclaimed Sound Of Silver. While Murphy's always been somewhat of a spastic vocalist, in the vein of Isaac Brock, it was never really about what he had to say or how he said it. Instead the mechanical groove often overshadowed its creator. "North American Scum" showed what could happen if both music and meaning came together for this band, and Murphy knew it
By starting out with a dead panned whisper on the album's opener "Dance Yrself Clean" Murphy shows the listener he's determined to remain at the helm of his own monster. "Walking up to me expecting words / It happens all the time" he sings with a sigh of depression. Murphy shows what he's best at a third of the way into the song as his familiar synthesized sensibilities wash over you in a haze of fuzz induced ecstasy.
Musically there isn't much here to deviate this record from any of LCD Soundsystem's previous efforts. Systematic buildups of (surprisingly live) drums, subtle bass, effects that swirl, swish and serenade abound from track to track. Yet the only, and quite significant, step of maturation is Murphy's new found joy of truly singing. While his yips and yelps always fit the controlled abrasiveness he concocted, here he finds a place for his voice to act as the real instrument that it is.
"I Can Change" is a straight forward tune at first listen, but Murphy's falsetto gives it a dynamic feel that has yet to be heard in any song he's yet made. "I can change if it helps you fall in love" he pleads to an faceless cutie. Keep trying to make growing as a musician look so effortless and the ladies will line up in no time (like they already don't).However since this is almost a carbon copy of his other albums, This Is Happening suffers from the same pitfalls as the band's earlier work. The album is a very front loaded affair. All the best ideas and instant payoffs come in the first 25 minutes. "You Wanted A Hit", a nine minute jam, teases the label as well as a few fair weather fans. "You wanted a hit, well I don't do hits" he says with a tongue in cheek smile. It's all in fun and games, except for the dull two minute introduction that plagues the song.
The newly discovered vocal talent disappears by the end as well. "Pow Pow" is a toss off diddy where he simply talks his way through the beat. Just imagine a poor man's "Boom Boom Pow" and you'll get where I'm coming from. Just add a reference to Michael Musto and you're set to press the skip button.
Yet the greatest achievement here is not letting the bottom fall out of the bag. With the pressure to follow up the success of Sound of Silver as immense as it was, Murphy actually does a modest job of making you dance once again. Though it might be pure ear candy for the indie kids, This Is Happening, while not raising the bar, meets its predecessor right where it left off.
Grade: B
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