MGMT, Congratulations

MGMT, Congratulations

Reviewed by: Joshua Erhardt

MGMT is one of those bands I have always kept on the outskirts of my listening library. Their first effort, Oracular Spectacular, failed to impress aside from pumping out a few memorable singles, including the fabulous “Kids” and “Time to Pretend.”  The rest was an over-saturated electro-pop album, with a tinge of hippie flair.

Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden are back in 2010 with Congratulations, and they are back a lot earlier than planned. Scheduled to be released April 13^th, Congratulations leaked. Figuring they had nothing to lose, the band started streaming it on their website, in an effort to get the music to the fans from the direct source.

With Congratulations, MGMT seems to follow the tradition set by Panic! At the Disco with that band’s second album. They have dropped their heavy electronic arrangements in favor of a lighter 60’s rock feel. Instead of adopting a “Beatle-esque” sound, like Panic!, MGMT has gone with an “early Pink Floyd” sound, incorporating plenty of organ and lightly distorted guitars, over-dubbed vocals and tight harmonies and rhythm sections.

“It’s Working” starts the album off with a up-tempo rock song, reminiscent of anything off of Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn. “Song for Dan Treacy” is a bopping, very tightly produced track which draws even more from the psych rock bands of old with echo laced vocals and an organ/guitar solo. “Something’s Missing” and “Flash Delirium” are slower paced, but draw upon the same bag of tricks.

The problem with drawing so much from this sound is that it really doesn’t sound all too original. This sound was popular in the 1960’s; it’s really not innovative, and it’s been done before a hundred times, and you aren’t left many options when constructing new material. That coupled with the fact that it’s a vastly different sound than their first album makes it an even larger leap of faith for Goldwasse and VanWyngarden.

The second half of the album starts off with a twelve minute acid trip called “Siberian Breaks.” If there is one song that illustrates just how far MGMT has strayed from their original “Time to Pretend” sound, it would be this. It’s a multipart ballad, that ends with an unnecessarily long keyboard odyssey that, again, draws almost directly from the work of Pink Floyd. “Brian Eno,” yet another psych rock tune, “Lady Dada’s Nightmare,” an instrumental track, which just coming off the heels of “Siberian Breaks” seems awfully tacked on, and “Congratulations” round out the album, settling the score that MGMT might have peaked early.

The album is by no means unlistenable, but it’s not really anything to get excited about. None of the songs really add any sort of contrast, or stand out as possible singles,  and in the end it all seems to blur together under one giant envelope of “love peace and the summer of Woodstock.” The album itself is a large contrast from Oracular Spectacular, which threatens to polarize fans and probably cost the boys some tickets sales.

Lack of originality, but some fun psych rock to add to the collection, gives MGMT’s “Congratulations” a fitting 69% rating.

This review was based on the streaming copy of the album provided on MGMT’s website and MySpace.