SPREADING THE GOSPEL – MGMT

I know, to a lot of people, the gospel need not be spread about MGMT, as they had some pretty ubiquitous tracks back in the summer of 2007. Tracks like Kids and Time To Pretend were heard at festivals the world over. However, due to some less than commercial choices the band have made since, they have all but slipped off the mainstream radar. So, I’m effectively just trying to set that right.

Oracular Spectacular (2007)

Key Track: Kids

This album soundtracked most peoples summer back in 2007, and it still sounds amazing today. It’s astonishing the amount of great songs on here, there is barely a duff track, and any of these could have been singles. There was a time when the term nu-rave was actually popular (I know, crazy huh) and bands like The Klaxons and MGMT were top of the pile. Psychedelia and electro music collide on such awesome tunes as Time to Pretend, The Youth, Weekend Wars, Kids and Electric Feel. An album to help get the party started.

Congratulations (2010)

Key Track: Flash Delirium

Some expected, and certainly couldn’t have blamed, Andrew Van Wyngarden and Ben Goldwasser to follow up Oracular Spectacular with more of the same, to capitalise on their success. No such fear. They instead released Congratulations which had no apparent singles on it, and featured dense psyhedelic work outs that were mostly four minutes or more in length, including the 12 minute Siberian Breaks. This is definitely an album that rewards repeat listens, and is more mature than their debut, which will have turned off some fans before they even got to know the band.

MGMT (2013)

Key Track: Alien Days

And so to MGMT’s most recent release, their self-titled third album. Proving that their debut, filled with catchy singles, was actually just a one-time occurrence, the band have instead plumped for more of the same experimentation as per their last album. It doesn’t quite hold the same interest as their previous releases, but is still melodic whilst being experimental, and is far more interesting as a consequence than most other bands out there at the moment. I can’t help feeling I would love another ‘Time To Pretend’ though.

Tags: congratulations, dance, Electronic, Indie, MGMT, music, Oracular Spectacular, psychedelia, rave, review, rock