There's little depth lurking inside James Murphy. The producer/DJ behind dance-punk mavericks LCD Soundsystem likes nothing more than having a good laugh—even at the expense of his art. Hence, "Sound of Silver," which Murphy has asked fans to buy in its first week so he could become a "Top 40 artist." Worthy of a chuckle, but "Silver" lacks the hooks or, worse, the beats to make him a mainstream artist.
Murphy's lone solo hit, 2005's "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House," offered up, at best, a cute title and a good guitar riff. Nevertheless, it earned him two Grammy nominations and inspired him to take the joke further.
As on his previous releases and production work, Murphy likes to build songs off of throwaway lines ("We're North American scum!" and "Read the pamphlets! Watch the tapes!" for example), a funky bass line, some ice-cold keyboards straight out of Kraftwerk and a few accoutrements (handclaps, cowbells) for added flavor.
Even at nine songs, the formula gets tiring. It's the exceptions that break the ice: On the romantic lament "Someone Great," Murphy stops acting clever and actually sings his sorrows, and the resulting pop-soul sounds are fondly reminiscent of '80s Brit-rockers ABC. The piano ballad "New York I Love You," meanwhile, finds the singer lamenting the police-state atmosphere of his adopted hometown.
It's a rare moment of honesty for an artist who apparently never wants to be taken too seriously.
