Temporary Obsession
Mining Cultural Ephemera since 2009
“Time To Pretend”, a song about the excesses of fame off MGMT’s first album Oracular Spectacular, seems eerily prescient now. “Kids”, another song off of Oracular, came out of nowhere to become a smash hit for the group. Listening to Congratulations, the group’s second album, it’s clear they’re still processing what this all means.
A warning: if you’re looking for another “Kids”, Congratulations is going to disappoint you. There’s nothing as immediately hooky in the album’s 9 tracks, but overall the tracks are more consistent and coherent. “It’s Working” and “Flash Delirium” mix British Invasion and psychedelic pop influences with what feels like the kitchen sink – “Delirium” in particular feels like it rips through about 4 or 5 genres in its 4 minute running time. Even the 12 minute “Siberian Breaks” is a delight, blending surf rock with the Beach Boys and other 60s influences to produce something sonically unique.
If there’s a bad track in the bunch (which is debatable), it’s probably “Lady Dada’s Revenge”, an instrumental that doesn’t really go anywhere over its short running time and feels more like padding. Sometimes the songs feel a little overstuffed as well – it seems like 18 songs could have been produced from all the ideas the band put into these 9. Aside from these minor detractions, the album explores some impressive ground musically, putting it in contention as one of the best albums of the year.
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