LCD Soundsystem: Dance-Rock Majesty

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In "I Can Change," LCD Soundsystem rewrites the Facebook status updates for brokenhearted smart-asses everywhere. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

In "I Can Change," LCD Soundsystem rewrites the Facebook status updates for brokenhearted smart-asses everywhere.

courtesy of the artist

In 2007, LCD Soundsystem released "All My Friends," a seven-and-a-half-minute club epic that explored the universal fear of growing up and getting too old to have fun. It was one of the decade's best songs, as well as a career-defining moment for LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy, who'd previously crafted of-the-moment indie-rock anthems like "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and "Losing My Edge."

Murphy attempts to top that song's epic scope with "I Can Change," and the king of the dance-rock revival nearly reaches the same heights. In this six-minute number, Murphy takes the chintzy synthesizer sounds used by new-wave vets like Gary Numan and Yaz and crafts a head-nodding groove, which is made more majestic with the addition of chiming bell tones and an insistent, hypnotic beat. But it's Murphy's vocal performance (one of his best) which brings his tale of salvaging a deteriorating relationship to the next level. When he sings, "Love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry -- and this is coming from me," it's like he's written the Facebook status updates for brokenhearted smart-asses everywhere.

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