First Impression: American Dream by LCD Soundsystem

Took notes during my first listen to the new LCD Soundsystem album. As always, this is incredibly reactionary & not meant to be in depth at all so expect poor grammar & obscenities & shit

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oh baby

Oh man, that’s how you open an album. It feels like being welcomed home, instantly familiar & comforting & reassuring. All about that final build up, things ratcheting up ever so slowly & subtly & consistently. V good shit

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other voices

Just over a minute into this & I’m all the way on board with everything that’s happened so far. That build up right before the minute mark, that sick ass bass, everything dropping away at a moment’s notice. Oh dang that background vocal stab. Dig how post-punky this song is. Oh dang Nancy. This whole outro sounds very QOTSA-ish at least in terms of what the guitars are doing. I dig it

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i used to

Love the synth on this. & goddamn LCD have such a good & tight rhythm section feel like this song especially so far is a good reminder of just how good they are. Oh shit the guitar solo on this is cool as fuck

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change yr mind

Again goddamn this band is so good at slowly introducing new elements that slowly ratchet up the tension, without necessarily needing to explosively release it. & once again s/o to the excellent guitar work on this track I’m all about this atonal kinda shit. This “change yr mind” part is a v good way of dealing with the aforementioned tension. 10/10 would gradually get drawn in again

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how do you sleep?

Ooh this sounds huge, like it should be soundtracking somebody walking through a foggy, blue-lit, sparse forest. Like there is something flitting around in the shadows waiting to leap out into a dazzling light show. & then it hits 3:40 & the back lights flare up in time as the bassy synth comes in & completely transforms the song into something somehow even bigger. This is probably my favourite track so far, builds in that perfectly paced way LCD are so good at

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tonite

Not really my first impression BUT I am just noticing how crisp & clear James’ vocals are on here & how well that works for the talk/sing-y thing he’s doing on this track. Still a v big fan of everything that’s going on, the central motif, all the individual parts that come in over top & change it up whether it be additional synth or the guitar. Dang James is so good at capturing such specific horrors of ageing

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call the police

Again not a first impression but another one of those perfectly paced & intricately layered jams that they do so well. Another track where the guitar parts are a personal highlight. This sounds like it would be absolutely phenomenal to experience live & I hope I get the chance to verify that guess sometime soon. This is a v strong contender for favourite song on here too

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american dream

For the third & final time this album this is not really a first impression of this track but I still really enjoy it. That rolling synth part at the core of the song is v dope, big fan of how bright & sunny this song is. Another song I bet would be stunning to see live

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emotional haircut

OOOOH yeah that opening guitar got me hot. Oh fuck these drums too. Immediately fucking hype. All the guitar on this track rules, that main rhythm is fucking addictive too. I can immediately understand why this was one of the first tracks from American Dream they started playing live because this goes the fuck off at the end. Whew

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black screen

Oh man what a moving closer. Real slow burn emotional type shit. Love it. Not much to say but feels like the perfect way to draw the album to a close

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OVERALL: I like it a lot already & for a band like LCD that can only be a good thing. Every one of their other albums has grown on me immensely on repeat listens & no doubt this one will too. Didn’t pay too much attention to the lyrics but v impressed right off the bat with the rhythm sections & guitar work especially. I didn’t get into them until after they’d gone away the first time but I gotta say I’m glad they came back. This was incredibly worth it