LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

keepers  - 5
At the risk of sounding like another sheep-critic, I can't argue with an album that is consistently pretty good, at least halfway. First, the melodic David Bowie siren guitar leads in "All I Want"**** and "Drunk Girls"**** are a comforting reference, and the un-self-conscious keyboards range from deceptively primitive to heavily manipulated. "I Can Change"**** makes a fine and surprisingly thoughtful Thomas Dolby pop tune, and the aforementioned "Drunk Girls" is humorous and relatable. "Dance Yrself Clean"**** and "Somebody's Calling Me"**** are practically epic in length, but are practically mesmerizing in their starkness until small moments, like a shockingly atonal keyboard blurb in the latter, jump out at you. Two more epics, "You Wanted A Hit" and "Pow Pow", are goofy and prosaic to the point of awkwardness and sound crapped out, and "One Touch" is stiff and has no hook other than the shouted line "one touch".  Closing track "Home" simply restates the harmony vocals of opener "Dance Yerself" with rather generic techno-pop, but at least the theme works. Though heavily slumping mid-side 2, most of the album plays through solidly.

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