When I heard that MGMT was releasing a new album, a sequence of memories suddenly flashed before my eyes. Memories of house parties in the summer, when someone would play “Kids” and send the whole lot of us bouncing off the walls and loudly singing lyrics that none of us would ever really get. I was also reminded of the times that I would drive to the beach to go surfing early in the morning, and before paddling out I would turn on “Time to Pretend” or “Weekend Wars” while watching the waves crash into foamy oblivion. Those were truly great songs. Songs that seemed to fit perfectly with that time and place. Unfortunately, I also remember seeing MGMT live at Street Scene 2008 in San Diego, where those great songs seemed too few to make an entire set worth sitting through. What I felt plagued their live show then seems to be the root of their sophomore album sickness now.
The psychedelic pop rockers gave Congratulations to the masses this month, but it doesn’t look like lovers of their first album will feel like reciprocating. The album has its moments, but they are few and far between, and none instill the carefree glee that burst out of every single from Oracular Spectacular. The single “Flash Delirium” might be the closest MGMT gets to recreating that pure, childlike euphoria, and it gets pretty close. Unfortunately, their reliance on surf guitar instead of synthesizers serves them no better than the temper tantrum that the band throws with spastic screeching instruments in the final seconds of the track. The surf guitar vibe works best on “Song for Dan Treacy,” where it’s paired with an organ and the playful chiming of bells. “It’s Working” is reaching for something similar, especially the vocal harmonies in the second half of the song that seem strangely reminiscent of the Beach Boys– if you fed them drugs and dipped them in glitter. Either way, it’s not quite working for me.
I think that the fellas of MGMT wanted to prove that they were capable of doing something completely different, but different is not necessarily better. This is never clearer than on the track “Brian Eno,” which could not be further from the synthy dance songs of their previous album. Some people will definitely like the new tracks, but I think they stand a better chance with an audience hearing the band for the first time than they do with fans of Oracular Spectacular.
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