Heave Media

This Is Happening Tries To Be As Straightforward As Its Title

LCD Soundsystem’s latest effort features a mixed bag of solid and stolid tracks.

LCD Soundsystem

This Is Happening

Released on May 18, 2010

I have a love-hate relationship with James Murphy. A large part of me agrees with those who laud him as the musical touchstone for this generation. I don’t recall what this generation is being called, but I’m lumping anyone from the age of 21-35 in it. His straightforward and spot-on lyrics certainly put him in the running for that classification. However, the other part of me grows increasingly impatient with the self-indulgent 8-minute tracks that don’t have any moments of lyrical clarity. They’re just long tracks to get through. In a display of musical schizophrenia—though some might call it “range”—This Is Happening features both tracks that cut to the core of a slightly adrift generation and ones that seem to just be filling space.

“Dance Yrself Clean” starts the album off innocuously enough. It’s very simple for the first couple of minutes, and almost tricks the listener (or more appropriately, this listener) into thinking that they can recreate the same sound using pots and pans. And then we get to the meat of the song. By the way, it’s almost nine minutes long, so it definitely has time to experience this kind of build. This is some seriously dance-y meat. Murphy’s voice goes from apathetic to fitful within mere moments of that instrumental transition, and suddenly, all you want to be is clean.

Here’s where I may start reading into things too much—on the surface, “Drunk Girls” is a party jam. You’re going to shout along with it, have a few laughs, and move on. At approximately three-and-a-half minutes, it’s the shortest song on the album, so it’s easy to hear it as a simple bridge between more grandiose songs. At the same time though, the subject matter of the track and the enthusiasm with which it’s presented—shouting out “drunk girls!” to keep the beat of the track—could hint at the shallowness of party scene interactions and any “relationships” that are made out of said interactions. Social commentary aside, the track is a little grating after several listens.

If there’s anything that Murphy seems to want to probe with his lyrics, it’s the idea of relationships and loneliness, and how the two can often go hand-in-hand. A track like “I Can Change,” makes promises of change “if it helps you fall in love,” but in the midst of listening to the song, it becomes obvious that if this love was meant to exist, those promises wouldn’t need to be made. “All I Want” stands out as one of the more interesting tracks, musically speaking, but also thanks to the refrain of “all I want is your pity/all I want are your bitter tears.” It’s moments like these that compel the listener to sit (or dance) through seemingly never-ending tracks in the hopes of hearing another honest and vulnerable lyric.

Since honesty is on the brain, it’s time to dish some out. The last few songs of the album—“You Wanted a Hit”, “Pow Pow”, and “Somebody’s Calling Me”—are missing something. They’ve got entertaining beats, but at 9:12, 8:25, and 6:55, they’re too damn long for no reason. I won’t say that the last song “Home” redeems those tracks, but it’s more musically intricate, and the lyrics are just plain better—“if you’re afraid of what you need/look around you/you’re surrounded/it won’t get any better. Damn.  So while the album ends on a musical and emotional high note, it’s a bumpy road to the conclusion.

Posted by Alyssa Vincent on May 18, 2010 @ 9:15 am