In their latest release, the Brooklyn originating band (Headed by frontman James Murphy) offers their typical wonky and post-punk revival/dance-punk style to a myriad of topical thematics relevant to the time of release (2017) from commentary on Trump to remembrance of the late and great David Bowie. In their medley of energetic, upbeat, and dance-centric tracks comes their typical cynicism and satire of various topics, juxtaposing to the often light and carefree feel of the tracks.
Nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and nominated/winning for Best Dance Recording for their track ‘Tonite’ in 2018, their album american dream is a testament to show they still have creativity to share to the musical world.
Starting off their album by paying tribute to ‘Dream Baby Dream’ by Suicide, Lcd Soundsystem offers their typical sound and delivery with a slow and brill-building track that finds James Murphy singing about his ‘baby’ moving on while he still works toward a life with her. While not as flavorful or personality dripping of an intro as other projects of theirs (‘Daft Punk Is Playing at My House’ from LCD Soundsystem, ‘Get Innocuous!’ from Sound of Silver, and ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ from This Is Happening), the album only gears up with their groovy, wonky, and funky ode to anxiety and the inability of people accepting different viewpoints with ‘other voices’.
From then on, LCD Soundsystem establishes their talent and ability as they begin to highlight personal anecdotes such as ‘change yr mind’ which addresses the band’s brief hiatus, ‘how do you sleep?’ which addresses James Murphy’s feud with DFA co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, and ‘black screen’ which reconciles the feelings James’ experienced in the death of his friend, David Bowie.
In-between personal anecdotes, James Murphy’s typical tongue-in-cheek lyricism can be found in the scathing yet humorous condemnation of formulaic pop with ‘Tonite’, the ignorance of people across society with ‘call the police’, the need to showcase change in crisis with ’emotional haircut’, and commentary on expectations with ‘american dream’.
With James Murphy’s typical singsong/spoken word cadence intermingled with some impressive vocal moments, James has continued to strike the perfect balance between showcasing vocal ability with ironic/playful delivery. No stranger to lengthy tracks, american dream finds LCD Soundsystem embellishing their jam sessions with tracks such as ‘black screen’ clocking in around 12 minutes, ‘how do you sleep?’ at 9 minutes, and their instrumental exclusive outro ‘pulse (v.1) at around 13 minutes long.
Love it or hate it, the disregard for making radio edit tracks is part of the allure of the band yet also a disadvantage as the runtime of the tracks themselves and the album as a whole (1hr and 22min across 11 songs) can be dissuading for the masses. While LCD Soundsystem might not be accessible to the general masses, especially with american dream, they have yet again created a cohesive project both in sound and topics that offers smart and relevant lyricism and engagement.
Rating/Excellent – american dream is a successfully energetic, entertaining, and relevant album that’s commentary on politics, the band themselves, and societal norms will leave listeners with a new perspective amongst the abstract and pointblank lyricism of the project. Full of surface level enjoyment and layered depth, there is a bit of everything for everyone within this project with ‘Tonite’ offering the most accessible and carefree feeling track while ‘black screen’ serves more as therapeutic songwriting for James Murphy. With their typical fun and quirky vocal delivery, cacophony of sounds, and juxtaposition of lyricism with tone, LCD Soundsystem has proven yet again their ability to meld together carefree fun with careful commentary.
[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]
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