By Samir MathurContributing writer
Update: We've got three pairs of tickets to give away for this one, click here to see how you can win.
From the moment LCD Soundsystem first showed up, something was a little off about them. Their debut single was basically a list of every ultra-hip band that’s been namedropped by awful people since the 1970s. And yet it was delivered in a monotone that suggested that maybe the singer’s tongue was firmly in his cheek. Since then, over three albums, the band has become both critically acclaimed, and fairly well-liked by real people. Their latest, This is Happening, even cracked the Billboard Top Ten, no small feat considering that almost all its songs clock in north of eight minutes. Oh, and the only track that could’ve reached a bigger audience had a video that was basically Funny Games if it was even more of a horrific nightmare, and so was only seen on the internet. They can play it rock (‘Movements’), play it dance (‘Us V. Them’), play it tender (‘I Can Change’), and when they’re done playing all of that, they still have ‘All My Friends’, one of the greatest songs of the last decade. I have a feeling that live they’ll connect even stronger than on record, where the length of the songs often puts me off. I can’t wait to see James and the band get a big room of people dancing.
You’ll want to get there early to see Sleigh Bells, another band who’ve been much buzzed this year. The Brooklyn two-piece brings one guitar, one microphone, one laptop and a ton of energy to its performances. They’re noisy, they’re on M.I.A’s record label, and they’ll make your head explode. Check out their single ‘Tell ‘Em’ to see what you’re in for: beats bigger than houses, riffs heavier than houses and vocals that have nothing to do with houses.
LCD Soundsystem and Sleigh Bells play the Hard Rock Live next Tuesday, October 5th.
Tickets are available online.