May 7, 2010

Album Review: Free Energy - 'Stuck On Nothing' (DFA/Virgin)

LCD Soundsystem produced, but is Murphy losing his edge?

5 / 10 “I was there! I was there as they laid down some cheesy T.Rex and Thin Lizzy riffs. I told them, ‘Do it that way because it’s so ironic.’ I was there!” Yes, unbelievably, these 10 tracks of slick, radio-friendly rawk were produced and mixed by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. He’s taken the Minnesota band formerly known as Hockey Night and turned them into a kind of tongue-in-cheek Journey. Everyone involved is no doubt feeling very smug thinking about how Brooklyn hipsters in trucker caps will fall for it, but the reality is Free Energy sound like ’90s rock berks Terrorvision. It’s not all woe – ‘Bad Stuff’ is like an FM rock Pavement – but it makes us worry that Murphy might be losing his edge.

Nathaniel Cramp

Click here to get your copy of Free Energy's 'Stuck On Nothing' from the Rough Trade shop

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