This Much Happiness

Museum of Love “Monotronic”

Museum of Love is a new band led by Pat Mahony, the drummer from LCD Soundsystem. Mahony is hardly a James Murphy clone, but you can definitely hear how working with Murphy has influenced the way Mahony writes his own music, or maybe it’s more that you can hear how they were very simpatico to begin with. A lot of the first Museum of Love record feels like the more low-key LCD songs, but with even more space and a more relaxed tone. Murphy couldn’t help but be bold and extroverted on even his most pensive songs, but particularly on a cut like “Monotronic,” Mahony seems gentle and a little distant. The vocals are a big part of the song, but it sounds like he’s made them seem smaller in scale to the rest of the music, which feels like this wide-open, oceanic space. He doesn’t just sound like he’s being humble – it’s almost as though he’s forcing this humility upon himself as his thoughts go kinda zen.

Buy it from DFA.