"LCD have that skill shared with the Talking Heads, where the emotional highs on the records really hit because for the rest of the album, they’re just in the pocket having the time of their lives."
Words by Matt Baghurst
There's a strong case to say that LCD Soundsystem are everything you could ever ask for in a band. A punk-inspired groove-heavy sound, soaked in nostalgia and melancholy, but always nonsensical fun.
Somehow this New York electronic rock band master so many different styles, ideas and sounds, yet still sound so singular, producing tracks which feel truly ubiquitous. An ability to create truly timeless songs which millions of people will know forever, even without knowing anything about the band.
But this is a band that you should really know about. A key figure within the indie sleaze movement of early 2000s-2012 (one of music's greatest eras, characterised by a fusion of dance and punk music) LCD Soundsystem have a well-deserved reputation for creating a formidable call to the dance floor and frontman James Murphy has played a crucial role in shaping New York's post-punk revival with his label DFA Records, creating its own brand of indie music combining punk, disco, house and techno. Here to help us delve deeper into the LCD allure is Rough Trade East Assistant Manager Matt Baghurst.
Exploring the corners of LCD Soundsystem's raw-sounding euphoria, Rough Trade East's Matt Baghurst shares his selection of our favourite dance punks' catchiest gems.
"When I was young I remember a song playing in the early hours at friend's party, then waking up surrounded by passed-out people in a dirty room with a track stuck in my head. After asking a few people what it was, accompanied by a really crude rendition one of them mumbled “Uhh LCD Soundsystem” then put it on over a Bluetooth speaker.
I Can Change has been a song for my misspent youth ever since.
Formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2002 by DFA Records co-founder James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem’s blend of disco and punk has always brought innovation, high energy and beautiful moments through both their records and performances. Surrounded by fantastic musicians, including Nancy Whang (The Juan Maclean), Al Doyle (Hot Chip) Pat Mahoney, LCD Soundsystem are a machine. I mean a machine. Imagine my shock when, after hearing them for the first time, I found out that they’d broken up earlier that year after a show at Madison Square Garden billed as their last on April 2nd 2011.
For fuck sake.
Well, it’s not as if that was going to stop me digging in. Starting with the LPs: LCD Soundsystem (2005), Sound of Silver (2007) and This is Happening (2010). Only 3 full releases?! These albums are so rich; full of raw synthesisers, cowbell, bass grooves, humour and sadness all adding together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.
Then, fast forward to Christmas Day 2015; LCD released a surprise track title Christmas Will Break Your Heart; then two weeks later announced a full reunion AND a new album. Oh yes. 2016's American Dream had everything I was hoping for with a new LCD album, with the years since the previous taking the form of melancholy and finally growing up. LCD have that skill shared with Talking Heads, where the emotional highs on the records really hit because for the rest of the album, they’re just in the pocket having the time of their lives.
Anyway, with their headline set at London's All Points East festival arriving this week, here are what I consider to be 20 of their greatest tracks. To anyone who attended the last time in 2018, you know how good it’s going to be."
All I Want
This Is Happening
Huge Bowie vibes to get sunk into. The exit as the synth kinda falls apart always scratches an itch for me.
new body rhumba
new body rhumba (from the film White Noise)
Technically the newest LCD track, accompanying Noah Baumbach's White Noise, this is a proper groover. This is the reason why everyone who is waiting for a new album to be announced is very excited. This track shows they’ve still got it after 20 years.
tonite
This is Murphy's impeccably dry humour and delivery at its best; sarcastic and scathing, looking into how music is currently consumed compared to the past and how it continues to change - and why it’s just completely ridiculous how some of the systems now work.
Yr City's a Sucker
LCD Soundsystem
This one just slaps. Not a lot more to add, just get stuck into it.
Movement
This could easily be a Soulwax track, so it’s no surprise that Murphy and the Dewaele brothers collaborated and created their own Despacio sound system years after this track came out. The claps carry this punk song through to the end; it’s heavy, in your face and the guitar solo exit rips it all up - so good.
Other Voices
I think this is a really underrated track, it’s almost like an ode to Talking Heads' The Great Curve. Afrobeat-infused, Eno-like production, it's a track that many fans (myself included) would have been waiting for when the first post-breakup album was announced.
Yeah
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah. Party starter.
oh baby
The opening song on American Dream. This is a really beautiful track that brought in new listeners due to its resonance with a younger generation. Soft synthesisers and melodies bring this track to an incredible finale where you get the feeling that everything in life might not be as screwed up as you think it is - it’s essentially a big hug.
Dance Yrself Clean
Ahhhh. Dance Yrself Clean. It has everything a track needs: Great melodies, an anxiety inducing build up and then an absolute release of energy. Haven’t seen a band do anything that compares to this since.
North American Scum
A lot of people who haven’t heard of LCD will probably have heard this track before; its verses are magnetic, locking you in before each uplifting chorus makes you want to jump around. High energy, tight drums.
New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down
Murphy’s ode to his home city always feels like the odd one out to me on Sound of Silver; a break from the electro-punk for a really serene moment of reflection of your surroundings. Murphy’s bittersweet love letter shows just how much of a great wordsmith he is, with lines such as 'you're still the one pool where I'd happily drown' perfectly summing up the way a lot of people feel about whatever and whoever they call home.
How do you Sleep?
The track length will be formidable to a casual listener but if Dance Yrself Clean teaches you nothing else, with this band you need to learn to stick with the song to get the reward; 3:37 in and you’re going to lose your head.
You Wanted a Hit
Here’s that humour again - a band that sold out Madison Square Garden without any real popular radio play produces a song that is pretty radio unfriendly. Great songwriting about not conforming to success parameters, it’s a real buildup-and-release track.
I Can Change
As mentioned at the start, this is one of the tracks that soundtrack being an early adult for me; soft punchy synthesisers and pulsing verses over some soppy lyrics. 16-year old me would have been in heaven.
Tribulations
If you’ve heard this song before you know how good these synths are: gliding and abrasive, pure 2000s. So many bands of the indie sleaze era have this track to thank, it’s a joke. A track about knowing that you’re giving more in a relationship than the other just because you figure it’s better than having nothing at all, the pinnacle of self-deprecation.
Daft Punk is Playing at My House
Infectious track: the DNA of DFA runs through this one. Sarcasm, heavy synths and some cowbell make this one of the best tracks from the NY 00’s scene.
Home
This is my personal favourite track by LCD; hauntingly beautiful, to be part of a crowd watching them play this is really special. Murphy talks of someone doing what they need to get over a break-up, yet reminding them that the good times were still real. The final lines of the track are as poignant as James Murphy has ever been: 'If you’re afraid of what you need, look around you: you’re surrounded - it won’t get any better.'
Losing my Edge
This is perfection; rapid delivery over a looping groove about being born in the wrong generation, feeling pointless and frustrated how your lack of passion and knowledge just isn’t worth anything in the current context. One of the joys of working in record shops is that the line 'But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent. And they're actually really, really nice' is actually true!
P.s. Here’s a good drinking game: stick the music video to this on and drink whenever James Murphy gets slapped.
Get Innocuous!
This is something to get locked into. Daft Punk-esque rhythm and pulsing bass mixed in with Murphy talking about the effects of the rat race for success; Nancy Whang is the real hero of this track. Her backing vocals are like cake, and that ticks quite a few boxes for what I want in a track.
All My Friends
A lot of people will tell you that watching LCD perform this surrounded by your mates is one of their favourite things they’ve ever experienced - and I’ll tell you, they are not wrong. A soundtrack to dirty venue club nights, festivals, karaoke and car rides; bursting with both melancholy and love, it has to be one of the greatest songs of the 21st Century.
