MGMT ‘Congratulations’ // First Listen

MGMT
‘Congratulations’
(Columbia) // First Listen

When MGMT told The Fly back in October that the follow-up to the universally-acclaimed and intergalactically ace ‘Oracular Spectacular’ wasn’t being made with any “singles or hits” in mind and would be a “combination of pop music and weirdness,” we gulped. It was clear that Andrew Van Wyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were making an album that wouldn’t pander to any pressure to retread the paths that the likes of ‘Electric Feel’, ‘Time To Pretend’ and ‘Kids’ ventured down so successfully. Instead, it seemed, they were far more interested in breaking new ground, perhaps emulating the no-barrier sonic soundscapes of the likes of Flaming Lips, on whose recent album they collaborated with, and Spacemen 3, whose Sonic Boom has produced their newie. On first listen, ‘Congratulations’ holds them to their word – there’s nothing here as immediate or FM-friendly as the psyche-pop blasts that brought them to prominence back in 2008. What the nine-song ‘Congratulations’ reveals, though, is a band of fierce ambition and near-limitless experimentation who, although eschewing, umm, CHORUSES, still manage to find their way round an indelible melody or two – we give ‘Congratulations’ the track-by-track First Listen treatment…

‘It’s Working’
One of the few songs on ‘Congratulations’ to have been road-tested live, ‘It’s Working’ dives straight into a ‘Murmur’-era R.E.M riff, its jittery rhythm giving way to a reverbed-to-fuck Andrew Van Wyngarden vocal. Little dynamic flourishes build ‘It’s Working’ up to a psychedelic (think I’ll be using that word a lot) climax, before it pauses briefly for a Motown interlude and then, umm, a bongo solo. There’s a truckload of ideas chucked into ‘It’s Working’, but somehow it works. Attention-grabbing from the off – MGMT put the ace in spaced-out.

‘Song For Dan Treacy’
Garage guitars and a lo-fi buzz introduce ‘Song For Dan Treacy’ (Dan Treacy being the frontman of 80s seminal Television Personalities), its dreamy vocal melodies at odds with the ADD tinny guitar riffs. “He made his mind up” goes the outgoing coda over hippy-ish Rhodes-led instrumentation. There’s bongos in the background on this, too – did MGMT record ‘Congratulations’ on-site at Glasto?

‘Someone’s Missing’
Andrew Van Wyngarden’s pixie-ish vocals kick off ‘Someone’s Missing’ over a plaintive, sitar-spiked opening. It pretty much stays that way until 1 min and 45 seconds into it, when a giant sonic rainbow cuts in and ‘Someone’s Missing’ embarks on a San Francisco-stylee psychedelic jig for an outro. Then it ends. Short, but wonderfully impressive.

‘Flash Delirium’
Like many of the songs on ‘Congratulations’, ‘Flash Delirium’ doesn’t really have any verses and choruses per se, instead it has lots of swirling, brain-imprinting vignettes woven together. Starting with a (unintentionally hilarious) snake charmer intro, fuzzy guitars lend ‘Flash Delirium’ a Guided By Voices college-rock vibe, until a (unintentionally hilarious) flute solo stumbles into the limelight halfway through. Fortunately, the song wrestles itself from becoming a Flight Of The Conchords-doing-MGMT pastiche and struts towards its white-knuckle climax in thrilling fashion.

‘I Found A Whistle’
The nearest thing on ‘Congratulations’ to the Neil Young-esque Americana that made up much of ‘Oracular…’, ‘I Found A Whistle’ is round-the-campfire folk-stonerdom. Who knows what Andrew Van Wyngarden is going on about, though: “Hey, I found a whistle/That works every time/That’s when the trail escapes to nowhere and the flood erases the crime/Such conviction to paint all the walls with the blood of the young…” Err, yeah dude, you shock me like an electric eel, remember? Riiight. A paean to, well, I dunno, ‘I Found A Whistle’ isn’t exactly album filler – it is only 9 songs long, after all – but there’s definitely better tracks to come…

‘Siberian Breaks’
…One of which is ‘Siberian Breaks’, MGMT‘s most ambitious undertaking yet. Just over 12 minutes long, ‘Siberian Breaks’ starts off in breezy MOR fashion, gentle harmonies giving it a 70s Todd Rundgren-vibe. Soon, though, they’re ramping up the reverb, ‘Siberian Breaks’ taking its first left turn after 2 minutes, veering into a quietly seething stomp and then turning into a different song entirely 4 minutes in, resembling the Twin Peaks soundtrack if Jason Pierce got his valium-stained mitts on it. Next, airy, atmospheric keyboards lead it out of the hazy wilderness before the chorus (well, sort of) comes booming in at around 8 minutes. But hold on – we ain’t finished yet, or rather ‘Siberian Breaks’ isn’t – just when you think the whole thing is about to peter out 10 minutes in (IDIOT!), in comes bleeping, starry-eyed synths, twinkling like the intro to Radiohead’s ‘Let Down’ and lending ‘Siberian Breaks’ a suitably cosmic finale. MGMT tried out a 12-minute song on ‘Oracular…’ b-side ‘Metanoia’, but that was total crud – ‘Siberian Breaks’ is brilliant.

‘Brian Eno’
Roxy Music founder and U2’s old chum Brian Eno gets a big nod on the circus-esque ‘Brian Eno’, a song that sounds like Jay Reatard (RIP) joining Gogol Bordello’s travelling pack. “We’re always one step behind him/He’s Brian Eno” goes the (sort of) chorus before it breaks intro a loungecore lift-music middle-section, and then is airlifted out again by a chorus assisted by kitchen-sink instrumenttation. Are you keeping up, dear?

‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’
After an extended wine bar piano intro, ‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’ lives up to its moniker by embarking on 3 minutes of nightmarish soundscapes. An instrumental, save for some berserka woman screaming in the background (could be their radio plugger having just listened to it, eh?), ‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’ is MGMT at their most messily psychedelic.

‘Congratulations’
Ah, cheeky little scamps – MGMT save their most simplistic song for last, ‘Congratulations’ playing out like a sequel to the reckless decadence of ‘Time To Pretend’, the duo overlooking their success with a sneering, sarcastic eye. “Out with a whimper/It’s no blaze of glory” sings Van Wyngarden over a folky, tender rhythm section. Ending with a round of (we imagine) piss-taking handclaps, it’s a fitting close to an album that will test the patience of MGMT fans who were only into the ‘HITS’, but perhaps that’s the point; in one big, imaginative sidestep, MGMT might have just leapt the hurdle of becoming a one-album wonder, carving out a career at the true heirs to Flaming Lips’ throne in the process. It’s not an album that will thrill on first listen – I listened about, umm, ten times before I wrote this, but it’s a record that deserves your attention nonetheless.

‘Congratulations’ is released on April 12th and will be reviewed in the next issue of The Fly.