Indiecast - 10 Years Of LCD Soundsystem's 'Shut Up And Play The Hits'

Episode Date: January 21, 2022

In April of 2011, LCD Soundsystem performed a monumental three-and-a-half hour show at Madison Square Garden that was billed as their final show ever. Fans flew from all over the globe to say dance themselves clean and say goodbye to the dance-punk outfit that made a name for themselves with self-referential lyrics and impressive electronic arrangements. A little less than a year after the band waved goodbye, in January of 2012, a documentary called Shut Up And Play The Hits premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that their final show and interspersed with sections featuring frontman James Murphy reflecting on the band with prompts from Chuck Klosterman.A decade later, that Madison Square Garden gig turned out to be more of a "see you later" than a "goodbye." LCD Soundsystem returned to the stage in March of 2016 before headlining Coachella that same year, and they even dropped a new record in 2017's American Dream. Everything that has transpired in the 10 years since Shut Up And Play The Hits was released greatly affects -- and perhaps completely undermines -- the film's context and one's ability to appreciate it as a swan song. On this week's episode of Indiecast, Steve and Ian try to come to terms with the legacy of the film, and LCD Soundsystem as a whole (32:46).In this week's Recommendation Corner (51:19), Ian is plugging Pedro The Lion's new album Havasu, which came as a surprise earlier this week. Steve is urging people to check out Elvis Costello's The Boy Named If, which is the 32nd studio album from the legendary songwriter.You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. :35 - Intro, Ian’s LA Weekly LCD Soundsystem Piece4:21 - Nostalgia for Troll-y music lists + why you don’t see as many negative reviews any more10:22 - Breaking News: Taylor Swift, Ambassador of Record Store Day11:46 - Steve’s piece on the cd revival16:09 - When We Were Young Fest23:54 - Mailbag: Ian’s thoughts on The Grateful DeadSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprocks's Indy Mix tape. Hello, everyone, and welcome to IndieCast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums and we hash out trends. In this episode, we revisit the LCD sound system documentary, Shut Up and Play the Hits, on the film's 10th anniversary. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host. This is his farewell concert before the reunion tour in five years.

Ian Cohen. Ian, how are you? Yeah, I think that is more true than you might think. I mean, I got to let the indie cast listeners know that I'm doing this episode under protest because, you know, my supposed friend and co-host Stephen Hayden committed what in my mind is like the borderline, one of the most unforgivable betrayals I can imagine. What? Which is, what are you talking about? Posting something I contributed to from the LA Weekly in 2012, I think, like that's like posting baby pictures, like the same embarrassment except like you're 32. and probably should have known better.

Oh, man. It's like, you're blindsided me with this. I didn't know that this was causing beef between us. Because what you're talking about is on Twitter this week, someone tweeted out this LA Weekly feature that ran 10 years ago on the 20 worst bands of all time. And some of the bands included on this list include Oasis, Fleet Foxes, which that's a time capsule that people hated Fleet Foxes enough in 2012 to put them on a list like this.

A band that just seems totally innocuous now. Red out chili peppers, Rush, Pearl Jam, Sex Pistols, Eagles, Dave Matthews Band was number one. And I was going through this list and I come across the LCD sound system blurb and I realize that you wrote it. Yeah. Dangerous combination at that time of like having. little to note oversight and also just, like that was like one of the few times

I was only writing as a source of income, so I was just doing whatever. That is a dangerous combination. But, you know, reading your blurb, I mean, you talk about how the albums have a lot of filler. Yes. That they made a workout mix

for people who don't go to the gym, which I thought was pretty funny. You talk about how, you know, LCD sound system being an example of, you know, glamorizing New York City and like a late 70s version of New York City. I don't feel like these are opinions that you would disavow 10 years later, right? I mean, you agree with all that stuff still, don't you? Yeah, except maybe I would say like early 80s, New York.

Yeah, I agree with all that stuff. But, you know, I think the thing that just there, I just think of how like Khalifa Santa in his book, you know, major labels talks about how every so often, the article that he wrote about how the first Beyonce's solo album, like she's Noah Shanti, gets recirculated and just that like welling up of embarrassment. Now, it seems like he's way more well adjusted than I am to reckoning with his past. And it sounds like you are as well. That's something I need to work on.

We're going to, this is a sneak preview of our shut up and play the hits conversation because I wrote a piece about this film for Uprocks this week. And I quoted a think piece. wrote right before the Madison Square Garden concert that's depicted in the film that caused Slate to call me out in a think piece. Oh, okay. That's when you know that you've achieved a certain level of notoriety as a critic when Slate is calling you out in a think piece. And I quoted my think piece in my Uprox piece this week. And it is like one of the most embarrassing things I think I've ever written. It was a open letter to James Murphy, which the open letter,

You know, conceit, which was very big a decade ago, I feel like. Yeah. Just right there, you know, it's terrible. So, you know, I wasn't taking shots. I thought, to me, the interesting thing about that list was how, in a way, it kind of made me nostalgic in a very weird way, because when was the last time you saw a publication do a trolley music list like that, like where they're talking about the worst of something.

That used to be a staple, and you never see that anymore. Yeah, well, first off, when was the last time you saw, like, a functioning alt weekly? You know? Yeah, but, like, you know, like, noisy, I feel like used to do things like this all the time. And, you know, Blender magazine back in the Otts would do things like this. It just seemed like there was a tradition of, you know, poking the bear, you know, making people angry with this sort of thing. And publications don't do that anymore.

In fact, we're now in a moment where people are inclined to write the, you think this sucks, but it's actually great piece, more than the thing you think is great sucks piece. And, you know, look, I kind of think that's progress in a lot of ways. But at the same time, I don't know, there was something about seeing that that made me feel a little wistful. Maybe just because you were going to be talking about shut up and play the hits, that's a film that marks time. You know, that list kind of marked time for me in a way. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, like, I'm definitely brought back to, you know, my life in 2012, which, you know, not my finest moment, but you're right in that, like, back in those days when, you know, maybe Twitter was less developed, then there wasn't as much of, like, an ecosystem of, you know, stand to mobilize. Like, you could do something like that. Also, there were like a ton of publications that just needed content. That was always going to get the motor running. But, you know, nowadays, it's like you could say something vaguely nice, like not fawning and still get the same response of like, you know, the same like firestorm.

Because, you know, back in 2012 and beforehand and what I'm nostalgic for is that, you know, you say something snarky about LCD sound system or in my case, like that very same day I got. two emails about a review I wrote about once again Kid Cuddy's album, Man on the Moon, which that one is eternal. And a cooks review that I wrote, I think, in 2008. So that was the epitome of the backlash you would get. You would get an email from someone at 3 in the morning talking, you know, the usual talking points about me living in my basement, about me being a virgin, et cetera. but like you you step on the wrong toe even accidentally nowadays.

And, you know, your life could be more, not ruined, but like more or less ruined. Can I just say, you know, the thing about living in a basement? Yeah. When I was a teenager, I wanted to have my bedroom in the basement and it was awesome. And it felt like my own apartment. And yeah, if I was in my 30s or something living in my mom's basement, that wouldn't be good. But I just want to say, you know, standing up for basements here. I just feel like that's always the go-to slam.

I live in California. There are no basements. So, I mean, that would be a huge deal if someone had a basement. That's true. You know, when I posted a link to that list and I was talking about, like, you don't see lists like this anymore. I wonder why. Some people said what you were saying, where there's almost like this thing with social media now, like where either people are channeling their negative. in the social media so you don't need pieces like this or there's a fear that you're going

to get piled on if you write a piece like this. I also saw people, you know, bring up optimism. Because that's always the bugaboo. That's a boogeyman, you know, that's always very effective. This idea that like, well, we dislike everything now. You know, you can't be critical about anything. I really don't think it's that. And this is the same thing that comes up when people talk about how there's not as many negative reviews anymore. I think the reason why that's true is that There's just like a lot more music writers who have expertise in certain areas. And it's like if you're going to, you know, write about an emo record or a rap record or a country record, there's a writer out there who is an expert in that genre and they're more apt to write from a more sort of understanding empathetic point of view rather than what you used to have where there was a critic who worked for like an all weekly or something, like a Robert Criscoe, who just reviewed everything, even though there were clearly things that he wasn't into.

I do kind of miss that, like, personally. Like, I look back on the, you know, that era, like 2008, 2012. And I thought it was, like, fun, you know, to review things outside my typical scope. And I also think that helps, you know, develop a certain kind of personality as a writer. Like, a lot of my favorite writers are people who were covering all sorts of genres. And, you know, you get an idea of, like, how they see the world. And, you know, but I think that is the understated reason you don't see as many. pans anymore. You know, besides the obvious, like, I don't want to ruin my real life job,

uh, you know, by writing something that people don't like about a kid cuddy album. It's like, you know, now it's like, oh, I understand what they're trying to do in this genre. So, um, you have more specialists. So I'm not going to be reviewing a minimal techno album. I'm not going to be reviewing a death metal album. I'm not going to be reviewing like a rap record made for 18 year olds. I mean, it's tough because people will often say what you just said, they're like, oh, I miss seeing negative reviews, but then you're not going to miss it if the reviewer is writing about something you like and they don't get it. Exactly.

You know, that's like when people complain about pitchfork reviews of emo records in the 2000s, I mean, that's where that comes from. It's just people maybe who weren't really fans of those kind of bands writing about them, and 20 years later, you still see people complaining about it on Twitter. So, you know, I don't know. We had some breaking news, right? Breaking news. We always complain that news breaks right after we're done recording.

So we wanted to report this. And there will be old news, I guess, by the time this post. But Taylor Swift. Yes. The ambassador of record store day. Why not her? I mean, like, when you think about how folklore and Evermore boosted the, you know, boosted vinyl sales.

And maybe it'll be like the Grammys where, like, Adele will be 2023s, vinyl ambassador, but like, I know that like, why not Taylor Swift? If you really think about, like, who is actually getting vinyl sold, yeah, so be it. I think so, right? It'd be kind of like if record store day existed in 1984 and they made like Michael Jackson, uh, the record store day ambassador. I mean, you know, you're right. She sells a lot of vinyl. I guess you think these independent in stores, they might be aligned with like an independent artist, not the biggest pop star in the world. But, you know, I'm not, I'm not emotionally invested at all in record store day. So, you know, good on them if this gets more people into stores, which I'm sure it will,

because whatever Taylor Swift does, it gets people out there. I mean, she even helped move the needle on CDs, you know, her and Adele. Yeah. You know, I have a piece actually running today where I wrote. they ask a music critic column and someone was asking me about the CD revival because that's become a narrative. Is that like the SCA revival in that like a 1% uptick and interest like or is there like a real, real real? Well, it's tied to because CD sales have been going down every year for like 16 years and this year is the first year that they've gone up. But if you

look at the numbers, you know, they went up 1.1%. over 2020. They went from 40.2 million to 40.6 million. Yeah. But like the Adele record sold, I think, something like 400,000 CDs in its first week. And the week before that, the Taylor Swift record sold about 150,000 CDs. So assuming that they don't put out albums every year, you know, if you were to remove just those week of sales, CD sales go down again.

So, but, you know, I hate saying that because I'm, of course, a CD booster. I like to think of myself as an ambassador of CD Nation, just like Taylor Swift as an ambassador of record store day. So, but I don't know. I'm trying not to let my enthusiasm cloud my judgment on this. I mean, I would love for this, like, small, completely unsustainable uptick in CD sales to, like, result in, like, a, like, a, Sam Goody reboot. Like it becomes this like boutique. Like it becomes like the kind of the the, the, what's the word I'm looking for?

The enthusiast's store. Like you know how I've seen like back in the day is like, you know, the big box competitor to your local record store. Like now Sam Goody is for like the connoisseurs. And you know what? Like if you want Indycast to be there to help, you know, spur. sales at your new open CD store. Like we are totally up for that.

We will be your ambassador. We work. We are very open. We work cheap. Yeah, we're there for a ribbon cutting. Yeah. Ribbon cutting. Any kind of, you know, yeah, opening, grand opening celebrations. I will say too, and this is something I wrote about in my

piece that's running today on Uprocks, the Aske Music Critic column talking about the CD revival. In terms of indie bands, I will say, like I talked to Raleigh Walker about this, who's another ambassador of CD Nation. And he was talking about how, like, for him, because he has his own record label, if he wants to put out an album,

at a bare minimum, it costs about $5 per vinyl to manufacture. For a CD, it's like 90 cents per CD. And there's also no huge backlog for manufacturing CDs. So I don't know. I do think that there could be an emerging argument for music fans out there that want to buy physical media to support.

artists that they love, that not that you should stop buying vinyl, but that CDs are, should be looked at as a more viable alternative to vinyl. Like if you can't get a record, buy a CD, you know? And, because I think there's a lot of good things about CDs. And they're a lot cheaper and more convenient right now than vinyl, I think,

for a lot of indie artists. I so badly want to buy one of those five CD changers stereos I used to have when I was 18. Like, buying a new one of those was like, the equivalent of like buying a new car for me. It was just like, okay, this is like proof that I've like leveled up. I have one in my office. Yeah, I would totally be open to that.

Like the one with like the top loading clear one that you could see it like move. Another member of CD Nation is the critic Hanif Abduerkeep. Like he was tweeting about this recently. Apparently he went to a store in his town. I believe he lives in Columbus, Ohio. And they had it at the store. don't know if he went to like a Best Buy or, you know, a Sears or something, but like he, uh, there's probably a Sears in Columbus. I think there's a Sears in Minneapolis.

A Gimbals or something like that. So I think, I don't know, CD Nation, it's, it's not going to take over, but, you know, there's a healthy population there. Yeah. Um, should we talk quick about the, uh, when you were young, uh, lineup? Yeah, man. When we were young. When we were young. Yeah, Not when we, me and Stephen Hyden and hosts of IndyCast, but like when we, meaning you. Yes. Yeah, this. A punk and emo festival. Got my chemical romance.

Paramoor. Bright eyes. Yeah. Jimmy Eat World. All of them. All, like every kind of significant punk or emo band from like the 2000s. Yeah. And I, on this bill.

I mean, I feel like this story like came in, like the churn for the takes on this one. was lightning quick. But here's one question like I've only asked like in my group DMs where we discuss emo vans. Like I have several of them. Like everyone I had to pose this question.

I was not, like I am not ready to put this one out like on Twitter because like God knows was sort of backlash. But like when you look at the bands on this bill, the level of the bands on this bill and also the time period.

And you know, and we've talked about this a little bit on previous episodes. But like, you have to believe there's at least a 50% chance that Live Nation at least kick the tires on brand new. Yeah, I would imagine. And it's funny because some of the reaction I saw to the lineup, people were asking why brand new wasn't a lineup. There are some people who don't know about everything that has happened with Jesse Lacey.

Exactly. Exactly. It just speaks to how that scandal didn't necessarily blow up in the same way that, like, the Ryan Adams. thing did. Well, I would say the brand new one was bigger than the Ryan Adams one, but like it's, it's not like say, R. Kelly, you know? Well, do you think it was better than it? Because I mean, Ryan Adams had like a near Times story about it. The brand new thing, like, I think that was reported in like the music press. I don't feel like it crossed over in the same way. I think that Adams did. I think it, like, I think that is like a time in place, like an end of times type thing. Because

like brand new was still like extremely popular celebrated beloved and um yeah i would say that um brand new like had a more huge impact as far as the scene as a whole but nonetheless like you will i will still meet in life real people who liked brand new stopped liking brand new and then like oh they're canceled like i just stopped paying attention same with ryan adams i suppose but either way it's like with, you know, with this thing, you gotta wonder if they even considered it. But look, man, with this festival as a whole, I, I, I, the one thing that, like, bothered me is not so much the, oh, like, emo sucks at all, these bands always sucked. It's more that, like, the same people, did you know the same people behind Astro World put on this festival? It's like, yeah, Live Nation, you know, wait till you hear about, like, Boneru and.

every other thing they do. What was the, what's the substance of that? Newsweek, a Newsweek article, like a Newsweek article is like breaking news. We have gotten to the bottom of when we were a young festival, and it turns out the same ghouls.

Is the controversy that like, oh, these bands shouldn't associate with Live Nation because they come, because they have the punk ethos? Well, more that like, more that like, wait a minute,

after Astro World, you're going to like jam like a hundred bands. bands into a single day. And that's the thing that really messed me up is that, wait a minute, you're going to do all this in like one day, which I don't think that's such a bad idea because a lot of the bands on this, it's like, yeah, I could hang with maybe 15 minutes worth of music. You give them like 30 minutes, like the typical festival slot, and hey, this is a song from our new album, boo.

And you know what? So, yeah, 10 minutes. Like, that's all I need from like some of these bands. You know, what was weird to me, and maybe I'm wrong, the only newish band I saw in the bill was car seat headrest, which I don't understand. Manchester orchestras on there. Oh, okay. Manchester Orchestra, Wolf Alice. Okay, but Manchester has roots in the odds.

Of course, yeah. And, you know, so they make more sense, but how much crossover is there between, yeah, like car seat headrests, Wolf Alice, and like the punk and emo world? I don't really see that, but I don't know. I could be wrong. I love that booking for car seat headrests because I love that. Like if you look on the actual poster, like they're surrounded by the most metal core bands imaginable. Like they're not like next to Jimmy Eat World or like taking back Sunday bands that have some crossover. It's like Car Seat Headrest encircled by motionless and white, ice nine kills.

like pierce the veil look you got to take the money where it's coming from and also I do think there is a lot of crossover between Card Seat Headrest and this style of music because they're

huge on Tumblr, Reddit, places like that now what does Will Toledo think about being associated with these acts? Fuck, I don't know. Did he know that when he took this booking that it was going to be for like the When We Were Young Festival because I do know that there are certain festivals that like book bands that like

and they don't let on like what the festival's theme is or the other bands on it it's just like oh live nation is giving us X amount of money we're going to do it oh wait like this an email they wouldn't they have known the name of the festival though I feel like the festival name is really catering to the nostalgia aspect of this I know it's a It's a killer's reference, but... Which in itself is like, what does this have to do with, like, emo and punk? I don't know. I mean, you know, I made a joke about this festival, like, when it was announced.

It's not disparaging the bands, but just the nostalgia aspect of it. You know, and people always make jokes about festivals like this. But again, and we've talked about this on the show, that I always feel like festivals like this are preferable to a Coachella. And then that's probably because I'm... an older person, but I do, because again, festivals are not an ideal place to actually, like, see a new band, I don't think. I mean, because it doesn't sound very good, it's crowded, it's not the most conducive, just listening environment. But if you're going for a party, you know, you want to hear bands that you know and just have a good time. And that's what this

bill seems like to me. So I'm sure it'll do great. Just like heaven, that festival? Oh, yeah. Have they done that a few years? now. They did it in 2019. I believe that the one happening this year that I will definitely be going to should it still happen. This will be the second one. But yeah, it's like, oh, like the only reason I want to see new bands on festivals

is because that means they've gotten paid. And, you know, I do like to see bands get paid. But, like, yeah, something like this. Like, I would so much rather see some, like a specialist type thing than, you know, a kind of a weak sauce version of Coachella where it's just like another version of like, run the jewels, Japanese breakfast, wow,

how many times can you see them play 30 minutes on like a, you know, on a festival stage? What a treat, you know? Well, let's go to our mailbag segment. Thank you all for writing in. We actually had a huge influx of emails after the last episode,

after I said that we did, our mailbag was running a little dry. People stepping up, writing us tons of emails, appreciate that. If you want to hit us up, we're at Andycast Mailbag at gmail.com. I feel like I should read this one because it's a question posed to you. Yes. So it says, hi, Stephen Ian, long-time listener, first-time caller. As a big fan of the Grateful Dead and 36 from the Vault, that's my Grateful Dead podcast,

doing a little crossover action right here. I'm curious to know Ian's thoughts on The Dead. Could there be a segment in which Ian listens to some key tracks? and gives his review. Great idea. Bonus points for doing the same with the hottest new jam band Goose. Yes, thanks for the Goose shout out. Not geese, goose.

Goose, by the way, shout out to Goose. They just booked a show at Radio City Music Hall. Yes, I saw that. They're, I'm telling you, blowing up. He says, thanks. It's from Ryan in Traverse City, Michigan. It's like the indie cast, like mailbag listener, Madlib, like Ryan from Traverse City, Michigan.

Absolutely. I remember if I've been to Traverse City. I don't think I've been there. But I like Michigan. Been to a bunch of places in Michigan. What a... Wait a minute. Wasn't there already a show where, like, people would listen to The Grateful Dead, like, saw...

It was either that or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. No, it was the Dead. It was... Okay. Well, no, there was a show called Analyze Fish. That's it. Yes. That's the...

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, we're not going to do this segment. Okay. good. Right? Because you're not, I mean, look, if you want to do it, I mean, look, we'll bust out some, like, the 37-minute dark star from 9-21-72. Yeah. And then I'll bust some, like, Vanita dark star on you from the previous month, often consider the best dark star of all time, at least in the conversation. Yeah, we can just do, like, I can bust out some, like, like a dark star mix for you, like a 10-hour dark star mix. Okay. You want to start with that? Yeah, sure. Why not? Just throw you in the deep end? Yeah, I mean, I mean, I mean, if that's what it takes, I mean, like, look, you know, come, come, like, a July or, like, December, like, one of those notoriously, like, slow times for music. Like, maybe that's our move for the episode instead of doing, like, a mailbag or doing, like,

you know, doing an Indycast Hall of Fame. We're just going to, like, live cast me listening to a, you know, the fairly tight 37-minute dark star from, like, Cornell or whatever. But, yeah, as far as, like, my thoughts on The Dead, you know, One thing I've come to realize just from following my co-host's career through his writings and books and podcasts and so forth is that I have so many blind spots in my classic rock, you know, listening experience. Like I really thought I was immersed in that shit in high school. But like I've never, like before this year, I'd never heard a full Rolling Stones album, never listened to a full Bob Dylan album. You know, I tried.

I'm like, I'm going to listen to Bob Dylan chronological. And like I kind of stopped around like Dylan, uh, the self-titled. Um, you know, soft on Pink Floyd, never heard a band record. But like, with those bands, I feel I could, you know, just dedicate myself to listening to the albums, maybe reading a book. Um, and, you know, just have, you know, have something to work with. But like, whenever I consider the dead, uh, not even just thinking about like the cultural baggage they accumulated just by nature of me. me being around the Jewish youth group scene in the mid-Atlantic in the mid-90s. Like, Grateful Dead honorary Jews, same as Dave Matthews band, honorary Jews.

They're like in the same category as Billy Joel, as far as I'm concerned, on that front. I think Fish has some of that, too. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, if you go to the Jewish fraternity at any, like, East Coast public university, like Penn State or Rutgers or Syracuse, Yeah, like it's going to be playing. You're going to hear some dead. But even like if putting that aside, because I think, you know, it's kind of funny that we're talking about this because I think emo and the Grateful Dead are like two of the two of the things that have received like the biggest turnaround as far as critical acclaim in the past 10 years. I just whenever I consider the dead as something like maybe I should explore this, it just seems like I'd have to make.

that's like a lifestyle choice. Like, it would be like taking up a third job where I don't get paid. Because every single person who has told me about the debt, because I've done the, you know, oh, you should listen to working man's dead. That's the Grateful Dead album for people who don't really, who think they don't like the Grateful Dead. It's like, you know, you got to go to the live show. You got to hear the bootlegs.

And not just one bootlegs, but you got to, like, absorb all the bootlegs. So you can get a really good sense of like what's the difference between a good 37 minute dark star and a just okay 37 minute dark star. I just don't have time for that shit. And like that's honestly like no offense to the Grateful Dead. Like I just look at my life and it's like I can't fit this in. Yeah, you know, I was trying to think of like what would be the equivalent if we were to switch tables here and I was going to get into something that you like that requires just hours and hours of attention. You know, like your lifestyle comment, you know, the idea that you can't just like go on Spotify and listen to a couple records and feel like you get the gist.

You got to like listen to a ton of stuff. And I was thinking about that rapper RX nephew. I know you've like tweeted about a bunch. Yes. And I know that dude's got like 400 songs or something, just like a ridiculous amount of like material out there. And I feel like that is like my jam band equivalent to you. And I kind of had this, I had a similar thing like with hip hop and music. general about 10 years ago where I was like this genre is changing so much and like the

artists at the vanguard are like putting out so much material that like it's really hard to be a casual fan and like know anything because you have to keep up with this and if it's not if you're not obsessed about it you certainly can't write about it but even just following it can be really difficult or like hardcore I think is a somewhere thing there's so many hardcore bands and you know I don't want to blame everything on the internet but it does feel like now like with any genre, you kind of have to be obsessed with it to know anything about it. It's so easy to fall behind because there's so much material. And again, it just made me think of what you were saying about the Grateful Dead because it's not just them. I feel like that's everything now. Yeah.

Like where it's like, man, this looks cool. I'm, you know, people are talking about it. I could see myself getting into it, but it's like, man, I don't have enough time. Yeah. It's hard enough to keep up with the things I love. It's hard to sometimes delve into these other areas. Not that you just want to stay in your lane. I'm always trying to explore new things, but... You've got to be tactical about it.

I mean, the same for me with hip hop. Like, I... Like, back in 2012, that LA Weekly article, I was writing about hip hop a lot, and then all of a sudden, you know, you ease off on the gas just a little, and then you just... Okay, this is not my game anymore.

But with RXK Nephew, let me just tell you this. If you subscribe to the... Because I know it's spelled arcs K nephew, but I saw a piece where it says, you don't say the K. Maybe you do. It's not, it's not someone I talk about, like, I don't say that name a lot. It's like an exclusively I talk about this online thing. But I listen, like, if you subscribe to his YouTube channel, like, he might drop an average of, like, seven minutes of music per day. I listen to that on my way to the gym.

That's how I keep up. It's actually quite, his demands are. actually quite reasonable. It's just interesting to me, because I feel like that's not that dissimilar to following a jam band like Goose, for instance, and going on nugs.net and listening to like the most recent show. Of course, those are like two hours long. Yes. You know, there may not be, you know, the tours come and go. You can catch up later.

But, you know, it's a similar kind of thing, like where it's like a constant dribble of material that you're keeping up with. And if you're into it, it's really cool. but to be like, I'm going to get into this. It's a little intimidating, I think. So anyway, hopefully this is the first time people have linked RXK Nephew to Goose. This is a conversation I want to continue having on this show. But we have to get to the meat of our episode. Yeah, speaking of old music.

Which is talking about shut up and play the hits. This is a film that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival 10 years ago this week. It went on to play theatrical theatrically for just one night in July of 2012 and then it came out on DVD and Blu-ray I think the following fall or so.

This is a film I wrote about for Uprocks. I was interested in revisiting this movie because there's been some talk about LCD sound system lately. A lot of it not very positive. There was that run of shows that they did at Brooklyn's deal in December, many of which were canceled.

And, you know, there was a report blaming LCD sound system for like spreading COVID, which it seemed like a pretty unfair thing to say. I don't even know how you could have tracked that in New York. And then also LCD Sun System was criticized for partnering with Amazon on a recent holiday special. And it just got me thinking about this movie, which I knew was coming. up as an anniversary. And I was, I knew I was going to be writing about it and I encouraged you to see it.

You had never seen it before, right? I had never seen it. So, and I, I remember seeing it when it came out. I think I reviewed it when it came out. But I hadn't seen it since 2012. And it's interesting to me, I'm going to pose this to you as, I guess, as a conversation starter here, that to me when I rewatch the movie, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the original decision to end the band by James Murphy's decision to do that, which of course,

he went back on five years later and it makes the movie, I think, seem pretty preposterous in retrospect. I mean, to me, this movie is like an unwitting satire in a lot of ways of Otts era indie rock, and we can get into that. But to me, like watching the movie, it's pretty clear that, you know, James Murphy is this very self-aware person. and he knows a lot about music history, and that this concert was his attempt to essentially engineer the kind of ending for his band that he thought that future generations would look back on it in Revere.

You know, in the same way that he is the kind of person that reveres cool old bands from the past. And it's fascinating to me that this person who I think was very self-conscious about appearing on Cool has kind of seen his worst nightmares play out with LCD itself system 10 years later. Yeah. Where this is a band that is not, I don't think, considered very cool.

They are, I think, still really popular in a lot of ways. But, like, they're a band that now, I think, a lot of people feel okay taking shots at. Yeah. And to me, that just gives the movie a poignancy that it didn't have 10 years ago. And also, you know, because of the reunion, there's parts of this movie that I think are funny now in a way that they weren't funny 10 years. ago. I'm thinking specifically of the scene

toward the end of the movie where James Murphy is like looking at his gear. Oh, that the big climactic emotional moment. Yeah. And, you know, yeah.

Look, maybe it was genuine in the moment, but I'm sorry. It just seems silly now, knowing what you know about this band. And other kind of very 2011 moments in the movie too, like the scene like where he

is explaining why he wants to end the band by analyzing a Kanye West tweet if you remember that scene which is like oh my God that's so 2011 yeah or like Aziz Ansari like crowd surfing yeah probably is you know and Donald Glover

is just in the audience dancing around so I don't know to me that and I wrote a lot about that in my piece the just how the movie has changed so much because of what happened subsequently with LCD sound system from 2012 to now,

which isn't necessarily, I guess, a perspective you would have because you didn't see the movie then, although, I mean, it does feel like an end of an era moment. I mean, that was another thing I took from the movie, that it feels like this is a capper on that era,

and it was, even if they had stayed together, I think it was going to end. We know that it ended pretty soon after this. Yeah, I mean, this movie brought up up like a lot of emotions for me, not the least of which is because like when I looked at James Murphy during that movie, it's like, you know, he would talk about like how he's, you know, the years of touring have caused him to go gray and it's really taking a toll on his health. And like,

dude is the same age that I am right now. It's like, you're 41. That's what it looks like. Fuck, man. Like maybe I just need to get a better perspective on that. But yeah, I've obviously, as you've brought up from the LA Weekly piece, I've had a bit of a love-hate relationship with LCD sound system. You know, like the one thing that's actually prevented me from really embracing the band is the thing that most people will say about them now, which is that, oh, you know, they're just like an emblem for like music critics because James Murphy thinks about music as deeply.

He's very self-conscious about that. And I just never really liked the fact that it was like, no, you should like this. Like, New York is the center of the universe. We should all think about talking heads and that whole art punk, post-punk, dance-punk realm. That is the center. That just never resonated with me. But, you know, when I watch this movie now, I tend to have both more positive and more negative reactions to it. Because the live footage is fucking awesome.

Like, I never... It is good. I never quite realize how, like, strong of a vocalist, James Murphy. is until I've seen like the dude can just kind of belt like and not just do the you know the marky smith talking thing um a part of me wishes it was just a live show for LCD sound system and a part of me also wishes it was more of like the chuck clausterman interview which by the way like if you if you're the type of like millennial or gen z or like alpha generation who just thinks that indie rock from the 2010 is just the lamest shit imaginable.

Like, boy, a Chuck Klausraman interview of like, of James Murphy is a real Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme. I mean, I actually liked, it's funny because I agree with you. I think the performances are really great, but I was more interested in the interviews, in a way than I was in the performances. Like, I wish there was either more interviews or more of the live footage. Yeah, because I...

I think that the interview, which is, you know, strung throughout the entire film, is revealing in ways that I don't think we're as a parent 10 years ago, and maybe revealing in ways that, like, Murphy wouldn't have intended to show. And again, it goes back to this, I think, intense self-awareness about wanting to project an importance onto LCD sound system that, you know, look, I think that they're a pretty good band. I think that the records that they put out and the aughts are, you know, range from good

to great. I think most people agree that Sound of Silver. Yeah. It's a great record. And then the other two. I have a fondness for the self-titled debut. This is happening, I think, hasn't aged all that well. But, you know, one thing I thought about when watching this movie is that REM broke up five

months after this concert, essentially by press release. Yeah, they broke up in September of 2011. Huh. And, you know, look, even if you love LCD sound system, I think you would agree that REM by any metric is a more consequential band than LCD sound system. And they broke up with the press release, you know? So, you know, the self-importance of this movie, I think, um, is, again, it speaks to that accidental satire aspect of it. But, you know, Yeah, we've talked about this before about, you know, this era of, of Otts era indie and how, you know, like by 2013 or so, there was like this new generation, uh, emerging that, uh, overshadowed a lot of the big bands from the previous decade. And we've talked about the suburbs winning the album of the year Grammy. You know, this concert was two months after that. Oh. So I think, you know, that spring of 2011, you know, it really is like a certain, peak, I think, for that scene. And there's just so many things about this

that just seem impossible really to take seriously now. And I think it starts with the idea of a farewell concert. You know, can you imagine anyone doing like a farewell concert on this level now? You know, I know, I know, like diarrhea planet, I think, you know, they did like a big farewell show. I think Dr. Dogg just did a farewell show.

Me without you. Me without you is sort of been doing. and something like that, but obviously on a much smaller level. Yeah, in terms of like booking Madison Square Garden and making a film about it, I kind of feel like the idea of breaking up in general is

antiquated. You know what I mean? And you could see that in the gap between this film and LCD sound systems reunion. Because there was, I mean, you know, some people snarked about it, including me. I felt like I snarked a lot about their reunion.

But there was relatively little blowback. I mean, people were excited that they were back. And I think, like, in that, like, four or five years stretch of time, people just realized that, like, oh, no breakup is permanent. Yeah. You know, like, this is just the reality that we're in now. But people did take it seriously, like, when this concert took place. And I know, and I referenced this before, but I wrote a piece for the AV club around

the time of that farewell concert that was this very sort of melodramatic piece about like being sad that LCD sound system was breaking up and it caused Slate, I think it was Jody Rosen, he called me a deranged fanboy. Wow. And a Slate think piece. You gave that

you gave that movie a B-minus. Yeah, well, you know, the movie came out a year after the concert because I wrote my piece at the time of the concert. Got it. And Jody Rosen's point, and I have to say that he was totally right,

was that, of course, James Murphy wasn't going to retire. He was a guy in his early 40s. This was a guy who constructed a mythology around the band that I think a lot of people were susceptible to, including people like me, who appreciated the meta aspect of LCD sound system, going back to losing my edge.

There was always this aspect of the band where Murphy was referencing music history and referencing the way to think about music history and I think for a lot of people, this didn't matter. They liked the band because they like the songs, but I think for a certain subset of music critics, there was an element of flattery with LCD sound system

where you liked the band because you felt like you got what Murphy was doing. Yeah. And that on some... One of us. Exactly. And I do think that that was an aspect of the critical reaction to the band. And we should shout out Larry Fitzmoreis wrote a piece on his substack about LCD sound system recently, where he made that observation.

I thought that was a pretty insightful observation. And he's the New York guy and he's younger than us. But, you know, that was part of my critique about them back in 2012. Oh, this is like a critic's band and like beep. Like, it's the old David Lee Roth against Elvis Costello thing, except like a lot of us look way more like James Murphy. I would be really happy if I looked like Elvis Costello in his prime. Oh, yeah.

But yeah, what struck me about watching that movie is that, especially nowadays, there's this, the easiest thing in the world is to just, like, talk about Otts-era indie as like, oh, these, you know, these dude music critics, like, tricked us all into liking animal collective or they tricked us into liking LCD sound system, which, yes, like that component of LCD sound system, like, in some ways, they are tailor made for, you know, people in our position. But also, like, look at the crowd, man. It's like, it's not just like, dude. It's not just like frumpy looking dudes.

It's a very, I mean, it's a very diverse audience for like an indie band at that level. They're all having a great time. And, you know, Animal Collective isn't playing MSG, nor is like liars or deer hunter or or like any of these other bands that were in large part, you know, sustained by critical acclaim. And, you know, you look at LCD sound system, the band itself. Like, it's not just, you know, with all due respect, it doesn't look like the hold steady as far as just being like, you know, due to like James Murphy. You know, I think that there's a tendency to maybe overstate the influence of critics in a lot of ways. And I think with LCD sound system, like, they are popular outside of people.

people who will never, ever, ever read, you know, the AV club or pitchfork or whatever. And I think the part that bothers me the most about that is when you look at the, like, oh, we're past the point of like, you know, people overly identifying with the singer. It's like, how is that any different than right now? You know, it's like, Mitzky is like literally my best friend in the world, run me over with a truck type, you know, music writing. Like, have we really improved or is it just like, a different lens.

It's similar. No, it's the same thing. I think what you would say about now that is positive is that there's just, I think, a greater diversity of people who feel related to, who feel that a wider array of artists are relatable. Yeah, absolutely. So, you have all kinds of critics who want to be run over by all kinds of artists with a truck, you know, so, you know, I guess that would be the improvement there.

You know, I was thinking about, as I was saying before, that there, there, There is this trajectory with LCD sound system where I think in the aughts, and leading into this concert where James Murphy was very self-conscious about how the band was perceived and he wanted to be perceived in a very, you know, as a relevant band, as a band that people like him would have wanted to be into. And, you know, at the time of the breakup, he talked about how he didn't want LCD sound system to turn into U-2 or R2.S.D. EM or the Pixies, like these bands that have sucked around for a long time and they end up making

records that people don't like as much as the early stuff. And again, you know, there's a certain poignancy watching the film now because LCD sound system, they put out American Dream in 2017. I think even people who like that record would concede that it's not as good as the first three records. You wouldn't get people to admit that in 2017. I'll tell you that much. I think they would admit it.

Now. It is 82 minutes long. They're the band that does the Amazon special. They're the band that gets, you know, again, accused, I think unfairly of spreading COVID and all this stuff. There's a part of me that almost feels like maybe this is a sign that James Murphy isn't as self-aware anymore. And if that's the case, I actually, in a way, find it admirable. Yeah. He's been willing to do this kind of thing

because to me, that's a more honest way to live than to be constantly looking over your shoulder and feeling like, I have to appeal to the snobbiest people out there with how I carry my band. There's something kind of honest about saying, you know what? I'm a middle-aged guy. I like playing in this band.

I also like making money. I'm not going to be cool no matter what I do. so I'm just going to be who I am and not worry like what a 21 year old might think of me. Not that I'm defending working with Amazon. Maybe I'm being a little too meta with this defense. But like there is a part of me that feels like, oh, it's kind of admirable. Maybe you're not living so much. You're not living in your own head as much anymore, which is I think if we're going to go back to the relatable thing,

that's something that I look at myself and I try not to do as I get older, not live in my head and just kind of be who I am and not worry about how it's going to be perceived. Because, yeah, that's a terrible way to live. And if you can progress from that, I would say that's growth for James Murphy. Yeah, and if I were to, you know, we talk a lot about James Murphy, but if, like, I were to, like, watch a bonus director's cut version of this movie, like, can I just get, like, one quote from, like, another person in the band what they think of the breakup? up like what does Nancy Wang think about the fact that like this band is breaking up or the

guitarist or the drummer it's I just really wish I got a better sense of like like what the rest of the band thought about that yeah I could have used a Nancy Wang cam in the movie because whenever she was on screen I was like oh yeah she's like the most sort of electrifying presence I think on stage so anyway maybe maybe maybe it's time for you to get into the Juan McLean you know they they had some bangers back in the day All right, we've now reached the part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner, where Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Ian, why don't you go first?

Yes, we are on the tip of breaking news. If you follow me on Twitter, you know damn well that Pedro the Lion dropped a surprise album. On the day that we're recording on Thursday, it's called Havasu. It is the second of a planned five album run exploring David Bazan's youth. It's usually a trilogy. Like, what would this be? Like, a pentology? I've never used that word before.

But nonetheless, it picks up, like, and I, the one thing I love about this album is that the last one was called Phoenix. This one's about Lake Havasu, which is a place I have no knowledge of aside from MTV's Spring Breakhouse being there. Like, I think that's where the infamous Radiohead performance were, like, Tom York has dyed hair and jumps into the pool or whatever happened. Right. So, but, you. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting look back at being 13 years old in a way that is very empathetic. And, you know, it's sort of like music about being a teen, but it's not at all teen pop. And it's, you know, the music that David Bazan thought like, oh, my 13-year-old self would need to hear just as like an older brother or a father figure.

You know, there are songs about couples skating to Richard Marks, wanting to play the saxophone because you heard the heat is on in Beverly Hills Cop too. It's sort of like, and I'm treading on thin ice with this, but like imagine like a non-canceled version of those Sun Kill Moon albums where he taught like that song, Dogs. You know, it's like it's a lot kinder. It's a lot gentler. And also like you won't feel like shit for listening to it in 2022. too. So just great to have David Bazan back, one of my favorite artists, one of my favorite thinkers. You know, really, really glad to have him back in the fold. So since we're on a veteran singer-songwriter tip here, I'm going to talk about Elvis Costello,

which you already referenced in this episode. Who knew that we'd be talking about Elvis Costello twice? But he has a new album called The Boy Named If. This is his 32nd album. and I have to be honest that with Costello, I have not kept up with his recent albums. He puts out albums at a pretty steady clip. He is typically an artist that I slot in that lane of, I'm glad he's still out there, I'm glad he's healthy.

He had a cancer scare in recent years. It seems like he's doing well now. But usually when I drop into the albums, they seem a little snoozy to me, It's hard to really feel invested in it. But this is a record that I checked up because I saw people talking about it. And it actually, I think, is like one of the stronger records that I've heard from him in recent years. And I would say that this is the kind of record that if you appreciate Elvis Costello's like noisier albums, like Blood and Chocolate or Brutal Youth, albums like that, this is going to be an album that is up your alley.

very clangy guitars, you know, very, again, robust rhythm section, just as you would expect from like Prime Era Elvis Costello. And he's still in fine voice, still writing really sharp, witty lyrics. And I'll just say in general, you know, I'm curious about like the kids out there, if they're listening to Elvis Gastello, if this is one of those canonized artists that people explore, you dip their toes in, I don't hear a whole lot of conversation about him, but I would just say if you don't know his work, I would encourage checking out those early records that he put up from like, say, 1977 to 1986. Those are, that's like a really strong body of work. Very consistent.

Again, I would say it's, if you like lyrically incisive, robust kind of punky, singer-songwritery type records, those albums really hold up. So check out the new record. It's called The Boy Named If, but also go back to those early records if you've never investigated. I think he's worth checking out. That about does it for this episode of Indycast. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week.

And if you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mix Taped Newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie, and I recommend five albums per week, and we'll send it directly to your email, box.