MGMT -Congratulations
You remember MGMT right? ‘Kids?’ That was good, wasn’t it? Want more fun, pop singles? Tough luck. MGMT have renounced the mainstream.
No one would ever call MGMT’s first album great or even that particularly good but it had three massively popular singles; ‘Time to Pretend’, ‘Electric Feel’ and the aforementioned ‘Kids’ and so there’s a general excitement for their 2nd release; Congratulations.
Relinquishing the Radio 1 safety net, MGMT have created an album that draws easier comparison to Flaming Lips that anything currently in the Top 10. Such a drastic stylistic change would appear to be commercial suicide however what MGMT have done is positioned themselves away from the flippant nature of singles and chart positions and into an area where they can create a lasting career.
The news is not all positive. Congratulations, like its predecessor isn’t a perfect album, compromised by too many ideas and too much freedom, tracks wander aimlessly only adding questions and offering no answers; for example why the recurring ‘50s horror influence in tracks such as ‘Song for Dan Treacy’? So what you get is a frustrating experience. Never fully enjoyable, Congratulations rewards in that you are hearing the duo’s creative process, it might no be complete but you are left with the impression that greatness is reachable for the pair.
‘Flash Delirium’, the public’s first taste of the new record is indicative of the album as a whole. With more twists and turns than a M. Night Shyamalan film, the song bounces wildly between camp sci-fi and carnival. It’s both crazy and thrilling, bursting with explosions of new and exciting sounds. You could listen to it a hundred times and still hear something new and appealing.
So Congratulations to MGMT who were brave enough not to compromise.
DwR
