![]() Contrary to what the band said themselves, there is no “sonic and thematic coherence” to be found here. Like any other MGMT fan, I loved Oracular Spectacular and was eager to hear more. Keep in mind, I wanted to like this album. I would normally encourage this sense of adventure, but in the case of Congratulations this experimentation has resulted in a mutated, over-produced, gestating pile of ‘songs’ that barely peak interest, let alone grab your ears and move your legs like “Kids” or “Electric Feel.” The boys looked toward the stars and ended up in the mud. With near-blinding success and over-stimulation brought on by a debut album that proved to indie fans that pop wasn’t dead, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden most likely felt the urge to branch out, try new things and experiment. On some level, it is understandable how Congratulations came into existence as such a mess of an album. Its jumbled demeanor was neither catchy nor interesting, which were two components MGMT had previously shown mastery of. I should have seen this coming, actually, after the release of their first single off the album, “Flash Delirium”, a track that had multiple personality disorder (cue Ariel Pink, the Beatles, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) devoid of a likable personality amongst the group. Where Oracular Spectacular was intriguing, sultry and (at times) epic, Congratulations falls into a void of noisiness, floundering psychedelic blips and indistinguishable garble. Disappointingly, it will fail to impress even the most stalwart of fans. It is important to remember MGMT’s past because, on April 13th, they will release their sophomore album (not counting their initial, unsigned release as The Management) titled Congratulations. MGMT have been riding the success of Oracular Spectacular for two years, and it’s given the duo a lot of clout in underground and mainstream circles alike. Dance-hall aficionados Justice even won the 2009 Grammy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for their remix of MGMT’s “Electric Feel (Justice Remix)”. For a while, MGMT were on top of the world, playing all sorts of festivals, selling out shows, and having their music featured everywhere from television (Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries) to movies (Sex Drive, Twilight: New Moon) and even video games (Midnight Club: Los Angeles, FIFA 09). Soon after, Oracular gems “Electric Feel”, “Weekend Wars” and (arguably most important) “Kids” instigated a storm of fans that were completely enamored by the psychedelic onslaught. Their first single, “Time to Pretend”, set a pretense for incredibly poignant electro-pop that fascinated the underground music scene. The physical LP was released the following January and Columbia Records’ little-band-that-could soon became the international sensation known as MGMT. At the time, the stylish blend of glam and neo-psychedelia managed to shake things up. Way back when, in October 2007, a little album called Oracular Spectacular was digitally released.
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