James Murphy was happening in 2010. He was here, there and everywhere, and even if his proclaimed swan song with LCD was perhaps somewhat of a promotional gimmick, This Is Happening does have an urgent feel to its zip-tight, potent soundscape. It lacks a bit of Sound of Silver's appropriate gingerliness and funky immediacy, but there's more muscle to This Is Happening, it's a much more in-your-face album. Above it all, Murphy still croons as the unlikely master of ceremonies, as the graying, chubby trendsetter eminence of dance punk. He's like the bee that isn't supposed to be flying but does so anyway. He's not supposed to be a brat, to be jumping and screaming like an 18-year-old, but here's the skinny: He's a godlike musician.
Murphy's lyrics are sardonic, witty and observant, and he's got this curious knack of making a song work for 8 minutes even if it doesn't evolve much. OK, some of the tunes on This Is Happening are indeed a bit too long, and do not work as well down the stretch as some of the tunes of similar length on Sound of Silver, which is ultimately one of the reasons why This Is Happening sits at #10 rather than at #5. But it is an impressive album, a power demonstration by the man who has ruled NYC since The Strokes wore out their leather-clad cool. Ironically, Murphy couldn't be farther from The Strokes, nor from the plethora of Brooklyn lo-fi rattle that's vying for attention these days.
Musically, the highlights are some of the shorter tunes, such as 'I Can Change', 'One Touch' (ouch, that actually couldn't possibly be construed as a "short tune", clocking in at 7:46, I guess it just feels as such), and tour-de-force 'Pow Pow' which is just strikingly beautiful in its own way, and perhaps the closest one will ever come to a generic LCD Soundsystem song.
