I was there. I was there when ‘North American Scum’ started making its rounds on MTV2 back in what would have been 2007, as James Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem project was to release their brand new album, Sound of Silver. I was 11 years old, quickly approaching 12, and admittedly, I wasn’t hugely interested in LCD’s stuff in those days. ‘Tribulations’ and ‘Losing My Edge’ I’d also seen on MTV2, and ‘Daft Punk Is Playing at My House’ was on the FIFA 06 soundtrack. I thought those were all just okay. Very catchy, no doubt. But left no lasting effect on me. So when ‘North American Scum’ arrived, I didn’t really have big opinions of the track. It sounded cool at least, I liked the freaky chorus.

Fast forward to 2019, and LCD Soundsystem are one of the most revered indie acts of their time. Sound of Silver is considered the masterpiece of their discography by many. I witnessed the acclaim, read about them having a big final concert, which then turned out to be not-so-final when they got back together and released another album in 2017. So it was only made sense that I listened to their catalogue from front to back. The self-titled debut to American Dream. Check out what all the praise was about. I did. And I gotta say… I still wasn’t feeling it. Maybe it’s to do with James Murphy’s voice or something. LCD Soundsystem are in that group of bands/artists that a lot of indieheads like that I’m just not as invested in. Been able to come to terms with that.

My research when listening through the band’s discography made me appreciate some of their songs a lot more though. If I could start this series all over again, ‘Losing My Edge’ would have its own page. ‘North American Scum’ has a proper monster of a chorus, something that I didn’t notice until watching the live performance of the track they did with Arcade Fire. I appreciate Murphy’s rhythmic talk-singing vocal delivery of the verses, which then transforms into these high wails and screeches during the choruses. Helps to capture that quiet-loud dynamic between the two sections. The track is also about being proud of being from America, no matter how dumb or uncool it might seem in comparison to those artsy European places. There are a lot of songs about American pride out there, but this one’s done with some humour, which I can always get behind.