James Murphy a Williamsburg, NY native, as well as founder of the dance punk label DFA, goes by the moniker LCD Sound System. Murphy, a prolific DJ/Record producer, played a large part in reviving the Dance-Punk genre that combines Disco/Dance music with the attitude and high energy of Punk Music.

Something for the hipsters: Murphy was offered a job as a writer for then emerging, sitcom Seinfeld. He turned the gig down, stating he did not foresee the show taking off. Murphy would spend the large part of the 90’s couch hopping, DJ’ing/producing, finding his groove, which eventually leads us to his 3rd album ‘This Is Happening.‘

”This Is Happening’ is dance music with a singer-songwriter heart, however Murphy is wise enough to realize that dance music is meant to raise the roof, and with any great music producer Murphy is a master at dynamics. He realizes the importance of tension and release within the genre. Organic instruments- loud distorted guitars, live percussion- are featured prominently alongside synthetic instruments adding a timeless yet futuristic quality.

Musically, This Is Happening never reaches the artistic heights of 2007’s Sound Of Silver, however the album is more cohesive as a whole. Lyrically, as well as thematically, this album is a concept album about; love, loss, aging and acceptance. Even if Murphy’s intention was not to release a concept album this is what my overall impression is after multiple listens to This Is Happening.

Track 1, Dance Yourself Clean, begins with a muted synth, backed by bongos that quietly plod along with distant vocals layered above a soft canvas. Then, like a shock, we are awakened by a sudden burst of quirky beats and jagged-neurotic synths. For which Murphy declares that we, the listener, need to dance ourselves clean, to dance our blues way.

After 9 minutes of incendiary dance grooves in the first track, Murphy takes us to the person we never want to be, the old guy in the club looking for a drunken score with the first single release on the album, Drunk Girls. It’s played out over a Bowie-ish track. Murphy invites us to remember the days when drunken girls were unbearably wild, a night of simplicity, when love is lost within the outer regions of space. Murphy sings that being shallow does not mean that you’re heartless, and we believe him.

Murphy has always been vocal about the disadvantages of being a 30-something aging hipster, worried that at any moment he would be out-cooled by the new emerging generation. Anxiety, aging, as well as blindly making your way through the haze have often been subjects sprinkled throughout his past work. Murphy, by contrast, has been more about his record collection than what is trendy at the moment. By choosing his musical influences wisely Murphy is able to craft something wholly familiar, yet unique at the same time.

Throughout This Is Happening I had a sense of an acceptance of a real life parallel, since Murphy’s neighborhood of Williamsburg, NY has since been gentrified. Now it is overrun by trust fund hipsters all looking for a piece of the action. In this album, we can sense that Brooklyn is quickly becoming the new Seattle for the 21st century.

More so than an acceptance to changes, this album is very much a post break up or mid-life crisis album. This is a dance record for music nerds who can’t dance. The message is lost on the skinny jeans of the hipsters. The too-hip will be lost to the irony while singing along to the future Frat-House anthem “Drunk Girls” to understand the underlying themes of aging, change, and acceptence. Thank goodness, because not everyone is allowed to play.

The post break-up motif is played out on Track 4; “All I Want” is a center piece of the album. It is a direct homage to Bowie, with its motorick-krautrock-beat and wailing synth that drives the song briskly along. Murphy finds himself missing his muse/lover and proclaims ‘I’ve been alone for far too long’ and all I want is your pity, all I want is your bitter tears.’ A pathetic plea maybe; but a damn fine attempt at updating heroes for the 21st century.

As with any piece of art, influence plays a big part in the message of the final product; I can’t help but to play spot the influence with these 9 tracks. I hear Bowie, Talking Heads, as well as Eno splattered all over these tracks. However James Murphy steals with great creativity, and thus deserves respect. Murphy has crafted the best breakup record since Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’ set to beats you can dance to, synths you can cry to, and hooks that make you shout.

Overall, Murphy tends to stretch these nine songs well past the 6 minute mark. While I was able to remain focused as well as engaged throughout this album, I would imagine the average listener would become increasingly disengaged halfway through a first listen. Rumor has it that this is Murphy’s last artistic statement under the moniker LCD Sound System. If indeed it is, he could not have crafted a more perfect swansong than This is Happening.

In the end, it is Murphy who has the last laugh, while we are left scratching our heads. Good taste can’t be bought with a trust fund, a loft downtown, or a pair of Ray Bans attached to an asymmetrical haircut. The truly cool people are lost in the sea of music, trying to catch the next wave. The wanna-be hippsters are back on the beach listening to yacht rock. You won’t find us singing Kumbaya while strumming our daddy’s guitar around a campfire, save that for the Vampire Weekend cult.