>MGMT – Congratulations

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What does MGMT want?  Are they striving for a greater appreciation for their art?  Do they want to stay on the precipice of the mainstream while clinging to the need to be unique and weird?  Well, its easy to see that MGMT wants the best of both worlds after listening to their sophomore album Congratulations.

Congratulations is a departure from the MGMT you once knew.  They have shed the hooks, so for those expecting a “Kids”esque anthem from their new album, you are out of luck.  The nine tracks of Congratulations have a shape shifting quality that blends 60’s Beach Boys surf rock and Pink Floyd psychedelia into one cohesive mass which makes for a very fun, yet VERY trippy experience.

The album opener, “It’s Working”, encompasses most, if not all, of the sounds and bizarreness of Congratulations. The reverberating voice of Andrew VanWyngarden and rubbery bass guitar give the illusion that everything is vibrating, with VanWyngarden guiding you through the oblique world of neon colored water and laser light stars.

The fun is carried on with odes to MGMT’s idols, both simply called “Song For Dan Treacy” and “Brian Eno”. Both are fun dark bubblegum pop that make the album even more enjoyable.  “Someone’s Missing” is one of the standouts with a church organ with VanWyngarden revealing to us his dreams where “Whats extinct might come alive”. “Flash Delirium” provides a blast of fluctuating tempos, band mates imitating saxophones and glistening synths with MGMT’s most hopeful lyrics.

As fun as Congratulations is, it isn’t without its own set letdowns.  The track “Siberian Breaks” is a sprawling twelve minute song cycle that mashes together several different songs into one.  The final product is a dense, overreaching mess that significantly hurts the album’s pacing.  “Siberian Breaks” has excessive textures and layers shows that MGMT were trying hard to make a successor to the track “Metanoia”, a b-side track from their previous album.  “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is an instrumental track that is initially a lullaby that transforms into a track from a Final Fantasy VII boss battle.  The track is mediocre compared to hearty fare the rest of the album has to offer.

As much fun as Congratulations is, it is essentially a nonsense album.  The lyrics are merely a collection of random statements, so looking for profound meanings would be a fruitless task.  Even though the content is lacking, it is where the album finds its heart.  Congratulations sheds worldly concern and opens a universe where you can “Stab your Facebook” and “Weep like a rubber tree”. So give Congratulations the chance to let the nonsense envelop you and yourself to the wonderful world of MGMT’s creation.

  8.1 out of 10

Key Tracks – “Flash Delirium”, “Someone’s Missing”, “It’s Working”