LCD Soundsystem will leave behind legacy

LCD Soundsystem did just about everything right.

In the span of only six short years, the band basically accomplished all the things any aspiring rock band could possibly dream of achieving.

And now, the band has quit. After Saturday’s sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, LCD Soundsystem is no longer an active band.

Based on YouTube videos and reports, the concert was amazing.

The group ran through most of its discography and the show included guest appearances by musicians such as Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, Will Butler and Régine Chassagne.

As is obvious in the band’s shows, LCD Soundsystem is what fans call a disco-punk band. The band’s music includes many aspects of electronic and dance music, which set up its characteristic sound and garnered the members fame.

Through the last 40 years, disco has faded in and out of popularity. Nowadays, people can be found dancing to new and old disco and electronic records in clubs and venues around the world. Times change, and so do people’s musical preferences.

Although LCD Soundsystem borrowed much from its disco ancestors, it didn’t stick around long enough to watch itself lose relevance or recognition in the same way that the genre often does.

The band’s first single, “Losing My Edge,” included lyrics about how frontman James Murphy was losing his sense of coolness to a younger, hipper generation. But LCD Soundsystem never lost its edge.

The group released its first, self-titled album in 2005, which was nominated for a Grammy. Two years later the group released its follow-up album, Sound of Silver, which was also Grammy-nominated. Last year, the group released its third and final album, This Is Happening, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard charts.

The band has left behind some great things:

The “Drunk Girls” Video

Spike Jones ruined my favorite book with his film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, but he made up for it just a little bit by directing this video. “Drunk Girls” is by no means LCD’s best song, but the video is their most entertaining.

In the video, a group of people dressed in panda costumes terrorize the band members by covering them in a strange mixture of eggs, confetti, balloons, champagne and makeup as the band struggles through a rendition of the song.

One of the best single-shot videos I’ve ever seen.

The Giant Disco Ball

When LCD Soundsystem performs, the band does so under a giant disco ball. One the size of a boulder.

Disco occasionally slips out of popularity, but LCD Soundsystem proudly displays its love for the genre every time it performs.

James Murphy’s Personality

I’m usually a fan of jerk rockstars, the kinds of guys who act uninhibited onstage and don’t care what anyone thinks.

In other words, the Charlie Sheens of music.

LCD frontman James Murphy, humble, soft-spoken and reserved, is the opposite. At Coachella last year he repeatedly thanked the fans for coming to see the band and was giddy about sharing a stage with Jay-Z. He became outraged when tickets to his final show were scooped up by money-hungry scalpers, humbly tweeting fans shouldn’t pay the jacked-up prices just to see his band perform.

Although the nice guys of rock’n’roll like Murphy usually come off as trying too hard, Murphy seems genuine.

Hopefully, that personality will carry over into whatever musical endeavor he pursues next. For now (as Murphy sings in one of my favorite songs), someone great is gone.

As these and other great things about LCD Soundsystem prove, the band quit while it was ahead.

Band members didn’t experience any disagreements, angry break ups or cases of musical writer’s block.

They aren’t calling this an “indefinite hiatus,” á la the newly reunited Blink 182. They simply quit because they felt it was time.

This early departure calls to mind the numerous iconic and respected musical figures who have died young, such as 2Pac, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.

These musicians died at the height of their fame without leaving time to fade from public consciousness.

LCD Soundsystem will be remembered in a similar manner not for its untimely death, but for its carefully timed retirement.

Quitting while you’re ahead is one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the smartest.  James Murphy is a smart man.

Will Hagle is a sophomore majoring in narrative studies. His column, “Feedback,” runs Wednesdays.