The first thing you hear on LCD Soundsystem's second album is something old -- the tinny drum machine pattern first used on their 2002 debut single, "Losing My Edge" -- but it's not because frontman James Murphy has run out of ideas. He's just displaying his wicked sense of humor, an aspect that, when paired with his knowing nods to the past, renders
Sounds of Silver a disc that's as clever as it is infectious. That opening song, "Get Innocuous," quickly takes off in a new direction that reveals Murphy's latest bag of tricks; its layered instrumentation, polyrhythmic drumming, and dense harmonies suggest
Brian Eno's late-'70s production work, so that the track comes off like a mash-up of
Heroes and
Remain in Light. Elsewhere, the anthemic "Us vs. Them" owes more than a little to
Talking Heads' "I Zimbra." Yet Murphy is in such command it never feels like a rip-off. While Murphy's wit is on full display, the only moment here that revives the snarky party vibe of the first album is "North American Scum," which lifts its riff from
Pete Shelley's "Homosapien" and casts Murphy as a Yank set loose in European countries where "the buildings are old and you might find lots of mimes."
Sounds of Silver is not all arched eyebrows, however. The two best songs find Murphy in a somber mood: "All My Friends," with its insistent piano riff and
New Order guitar, remembers more carefree days, while "Someone Great" is a eulogy set to a pulsing synth bass and icy keyboards. Despite these introspective moments, LCD Soundsystem are still primarily here to make you dance, peppering songs with such party favors as cowbell, bongos, and the world's funkiest instrument, the clavinet. Murphy is just a little more serious about it this time out.
