Available on: DFA 12″
The return of LCD Soundsystem, then, but not The Return. It’s not – repeat not – a track from the band’s massively anticipated third album but rather a cover of Alan Vega’s choppy no(ish) wave classic ‘Bye Bye Bayou’.
Of course it’s incredibly well-produced, but after the blockbusting songs that characterised Sound of Silver, and even the single-only ‘Big Ideas’, this feels like more of an old-fashioned DFA groove, the kind that reached its apogee on the first LCD LP and James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy’s contemporaneous remixes of Jon Spencer et al. So you know the deal: galloping drums, a rubbery, propulsive bassline, and Murphy’s adenoidal vocal – somewhere between spoken and sung – taking the lead.
It’s essential listening for all LCD fans, and I’m sure Vega is flattered by the gusto that Murphy, Mahoney and pals bring to the job. It gives absolutely nothing away with regard to the new album though, and, for that rather unfair reason, it’s difficult to fall in love with.
Ben Baglin
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