LCD Soundsystem

Punk-funk never went away, you know, it just gathered dust in a corner of a record store and waited for its time to come again. That the jerky-disco and terse funk which gave the Gang of Four (returning to live action this year), and their peers an audience the first time around is now igniting the sound of Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, The Bravery and a hundred other chancers is proof that pop's lifecycle always goes back to basics. As one half of the DFA production team, James Murphy has directed this retro-raiding wave, rehabilitating the cowbell as the sound of today. But, as the brains behind the LCD Soundsystem, the New Yorker may have a more centrestage role to play. LCD Soundsystem is a thriller, an album of smart, arty, funky pop which is not afraid to acknowledge its influences while hotwiring them to a whole new way of walking. Already marked as a clever-clogs thanks to Losing My Edge, his sarcastic, witty tale of hipster woe, there's plenty more where that came from on this double-album. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House continues Murphy's winning way with lyrics pinpointing trendsetter oneupmanship, but it's how he blends overt stabs at Talking Heads and Was (Not Was) alien funk with more modernist tendencies that will cause feet to move in the right direction. www.lcdsoundsystem.com