By George Crowley, ’16, Tech Editor
https://open.spotify.com/user/1254750176/playlist/68Jt2GralMeX51Cwq7le8k
LCD Soundsystem, the much renowned electronic-rock band has announced it’s reunion for a tour this summer. They will also be releasing their first studio album since This Is Happening in 2010. This news has been greeted with mixed reactions by fans of the band, criticizing the band for “selling out” by holding a reunion just three years after its publicized breakup. This may seem difficult to understand to some: who wouldn’t be excited about their favorite band getting back together? In order to understand, their reaction, you have to go back to the founding of the band.
LCD Soundsystem was formed in New York City in 2001, by their front man James Murphy. They started out as an underground dance/electronica band, but quickly began exploring other genres, with their music covering a wide variety of styles and themes. Their first single, “Losing My Edge” is less a song, and more a poem, spoken out over a funky electronic backbeat. In it, James Murphy dissects what “Cool” really is, exclaiming “I was there!” as justification for his coolness, while complaining about “the kids (are) coming up from behind.” The lyrics to this song are eerily similar to some of the complaints leveled at James Murphy, by fans who feel that their presence at the band’s final concert will be devalued by a reunion and new tour.
After the release of “Losing My Edge”, LCD Soundsystem went on to release two more singles, “Give It Up”, and “Yeah”, slightly more conventional electronica songs. Then in 2005, they released their first full length album, titled simply LCD Soundsystem. The peppy opening track, “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” quickly climbed the charts to the top 40 in the UK, and received a Grammy nomination in the Dance Electronica category. Despite it’s bright instrumentation and fast beat, the song is another lamentation on the quest to be “cool,” with the singer describing how completely overboard he is going for a simple house party. Their next album, Sound of Silver was released in 2007 to immediate praise, earning a 5 star review from The Guardian and a Grammy nomination for best electronic/dance album. In Sound of Silver, the band moved more towards traditional rock, with more faster paced songs, but still nostalgia filled lyrics. For example, the song “All My Friends” features a slightly repetitive guitar and keyboard background overlaid with poignant lyrics about regrets as we grow older. The last track on the album, “New York, I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down” is something of a return to the band’s earlier work, with slower instrumentation, and more mournful lyrics that question childhood dreams and illusions. Their third album, This is Happening leads off with “Dance Yrself Clean”, an explosive song that starts with a simple drum beat, and adds vocals and backing instruments until it’s impossible not to dance along. The album also features “I Can Change”, a much less exuberant song about changing to stay in love with someone. This Is Happening is LCD Soundsystem at their best, producing meaningful dance music that’s more than just a bassline.
This Is Happening was released in 2010, and in 2011 the band announced that it would be playing it’s last ever concert at Madison Square Garden a few months later, in April. Their breakup was not due to disagreements among band members, something that has taken many great bands, but instead a willful and purposeful decision. The band had simply become much bigger than they ever expected to be, and wanted to try other things in life while they were still in their prime. James Murphy didn’t want to become the stereotype of the ancient rockers, well past their glory days, still performing. And while all of this may sound like mere sentiment, the band remained humble to the end. When scalpers bought out tickets to the Madison Square concert, driving up prices, James Murphy took to twitter and ranted “IT IS NOT WORTH THAT KIND OF MONEY TO SEE US!” After this development, the band added four warm up shows in New York to allow as many people to see them as possible.
That, of course, brings us to their reunion. In late December of 2015, LCD Soundsystem released a new single, “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”, a depressing song about Christmas, that James Murphy said he’s “been singing to (himself) for the past 8 years.” Then, on January 4th, 2016, it was officially announced that LCD Soundsystem would be reuniting. At the same time, James Murphy posted a heartfelt letter to his fans on his website, explaining exactly the circumstances behind the reunion. He talked about how he still has so much music running around in his head that he wants to play. He also described how he met with the other members of the band, and they decided together to reunite. “If they didn’t want to…then there’s no such thing as lcd.” He simply seems to be excited to be back to playing music with his friends, and to have no ulterior motive such as making more money, something some have accused him of. He finished off his letter by saying “thank f**k we were never skinny and young…so there’s no, like ‘look how young they were!’”After reading his letter and seeing people’s reactions, I really felt bad for Mr. Murphy; once loyal fans are turning on him. James Murphy just wants to get together with his friends and play more amazing music for us, and who are we to deny him of that?
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