Apr 28 2008 3:37 pm,
Just got back from
San Francisco, where I went to interview the year’s most ridiculously brilliant band, MGMT. And nice chaps they were too, albeit a little frayed around the ages from relentless touring and plaudits being bulldozed in their general direction over the past 6 months. From their humble beginnings making white noise and playing improvised gigs, they talked about how when they wrote about vacuous rock stars in ‘Time To Pretend’, they weren’t actually aware they’d end up rubbing shoulders with, err, vacuous rock stars, and how, as Radiohead fans, they’re a bit nervous about singing “Ooh girl, shock me like an electric eel” in front of Thom Yorke when they support them in Manchester in the summer. Later on, they played an ace show at Slims whilst I roared with drunk appreciation – them free-pouring American drink portions are a bit too much for me.
Best non-musical bit of the trip was a tour of
Alcatraz, its walls and floors pockmarked with little bits of history, i.e there’s massive chunks torn out of the floor from guards chucking hand grenades at the prisoners. Maybe a trip there, rather than Pentonville’s non-deterring fluffiness, for Pete Doherty & Blake Wassisface would get them on the straight’n’narrow? We could just organize a cruise straight there from the end of Southend pier or something. All aboard HMS Twat.
Anyway – proper MGMT juiciness will be coming in our June issue. Before that, though, there’s Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer and Black Lips (whose DIY pyrotechnics at Coachella just about perfectly sums up their ramshackle punk chaos) to read about in the May issue.
byebyebye
Niall
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