“Pow Pow” by LCD Soundsystem

"Pow Pow" was the opening shot from This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem's third album, and it reached the world the crate-digger's way: timed to Record Store Day in April 2010 as a one-sided slab of vinyl on DFA, first pressed in a run of just 1000 copies. It has drawn comparisons to "Losing My Edge", the band's debut single, and that's a flattering family tree.

The credits turn James Murphy into a percussion section of one, working congas, cowbell, handclaps and electronic drums along with guitar, omnichord and vocoder, while Patrick Mahoney plays the kit and Tyler Pope holds down the bass. Nancy Whang and Jayson Green sing alongside him, the writing is split between Murphy, Mahoney, Pope and Whang, and Murphy produced and mixed it himself. A November 2010 video directed by David Ayer cast Anna Kendrick as a shape-shifter who harvests the souls of wicked men.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.