Today, Jan. 24, marks the 10th anniversary of LCD Soundsystem's self-titled debut album, which saw DFA Records founder James Murphy combining the seemingly disparate worlds of punk and dance music into a distinctly '00s sound oozing with New York cool. In celebration of this incredible album, here are its nine exclusive songs ranked, from weakest to best.
(Note: For this ranking, I chose not to include the album's second disc, which was a compilation of the band's early singles.)
9. Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up
LCD Soundsystem were never afraid to shamelessly rip off a famous song ("Drunk Girls" is basically a dance rewrite of "White Light/White Heat"), but their song-borrowing technique is at its most obvious in "Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up," which sounds a lot like the Beatles' "Dear Prudence." The descending chord progression could have been coincidental, but when that double-tracked guitar solo comes in at the end, it becomes apparent that the similarities are intentional. Homages are perfectly fine, but when I listen to LCD Soundsystem, I wanted to hear overwhelmingly funky dance songs, not meditative classic rock.
8. Thrills
"Thrills" isn't as thrilling as its name would suggest (zing!). Despite opening with a promising beat, which is somewhat of a reinterpretation of the beat for LCD Soundsystem's debut single "Losing My Edge," the song isn't given enough time to truly take off like some of the band's classics, and stays at pretty much the same level for three and a half minutes.
7. Too Much Love
Songs like "Too Much Love" are why I listen to LCD Soundsystem. In terms of musical composition, there's not really much to it other than an extremely simple synth bassline and a two-note vocal melody, but the way in which James Murphy layers rhythms on top of rhythms, with the occasional synth shriek to fill in the blanks, is the essence of the band, and should be the essence of dance music in general.
6. Movement
LCD Soundsystem was arguably the band that kickstarted (or at least popularized) the '00s dance-punk movement, and no song of theirs encapsulates the "punk" half of dance-punk better than "Movement." While the first half of the song comes in the form of an unusually urgent minimal synth track, the second half basically dispenses with dance music entirely in favor of some explosive garage rock fury.
5. On Repeat
LCD Soundsystem is one of the few bands whose songs I actually prefer when they stretch beyond five minutes (I'd also throw Can into that category), and a great example of a song that works because of its length its "On Repeat," which sounds like late-'70s New York disco and hip-hop by way of '00s indie. The song is the musical equivalent of The Simpsons "Rake Effect," dragging an incredibly simple idea on for so long that it becomes irresistible.
4. Great Release
LCD Soundsystem rarely tapped into the more ethereal side of NYC indie rock, but they did it spectacularly with album closer "Great Release," a gorgeous track that replaces the grooves with slow-building piano swells. Remember how I said earlier that I listen to LCD Soundsystem for their overwhelmingly funky dance songs? I should add "post-9/11 life-affirming anthems" to that as well.
3. Disco Infiltrator
There are some who would argue that Daft Punk's Random Access Memories made disco cool again, but James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem mined and twisted the genre nearly 10 years earlier into something palatable for the 21st century. Though "Disco Infiltrator" isn't quite a disco track (it lacks the lush, slick instrumentation), its relentless dance beat and spacey Moroder-inspired synths would have felt right at home on an underground disco hit in 1977.
2. Daft Punk is Playing At My House
Speaking of Daft Punk, the album's opening track "Daft Punk is Playing At My House" is its most famous song, and though part of this can be attributed to its incredible title (I knew about the song long before I even heard it), it's also the album's catchiest, funkiest, and grimiest track. It's one of the purest blends of rock and dance music ever recorded, with a riff and bass tone that sounds ripped from an early '70s garage rock track, but held down with one of the band's signature close-miked drum grooves.
1. Tribulations
Though most of the other songs on LCD Soundsystem are strictly dance numbers, with little more than killer grooves and some chanting, "Tribulations" actually feels like a proper song, with a chord progression and catchy melody and everything. That doesn't mean you can't dance to it, though; "Tribulations" is still one of the album's funkiest tracks, with the sort of synth tone that massages your brain when listening to it through a good pair of headphones.
What are your favorite songs from LCD Soundsystem's debut album? Let us know down in the comments section below!
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