You have to admire MGMT’s bloody mindedness. They release what were arguably the three finest singles of the noughties (honestly, who can resist the pop euphoria of “Kids”?), and record one of the finest albums in recent memory. A large number of their fans don’t get, skip over, or simply disregard as self-indulgent noodling most of the album tracks – like bosching a load of magic mushrooms these are just the weird smelling floaty bits you have to consume to hit dizzying heights. Then MGMT announce that there aren’t going to be any singles a la “Oracular Spectacular” on new album “Congratulations”. It will consist entirely of those tracks that many passed over to get to the singles, and MGMT commit commercial suicide just as they brake into the mainstream. Po-faced fans and critics alike blub as their dreams of “Time To Pretend” repeated to infinity implode. If that wasn’t enough “Congratulations” gets leaked and they stream the entire album online for free, three weeks prior to the scheduled release.
What did we expect? Surely it was always obvious that MGMT were a bit too pretentious, aloof, and cerebral to dance to anyone’s tune but their own. Plus, it was those album tracks between the singles that really made me think that we had something really quite special on our hands. You can’t honestly tell me that you didn’t love the Dave Gilmour style guitar playing on “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters”, or the arrogant stomp of “The Handshake”. It was these tracks that set them apart from Empire of the Sun. Empire of the Sun are a great singles bands, and MGMT are a great band in their entirety.
Even so, all this doesn’t detract from the fact that “Celebrations” disappoints on first listen. Those singles weren’t just isolated enjoyable moments; they acted as the ice-breaker for the rest of the album. Without them this seems far more impenetrable. But, after several more listens it opens up on a cosmic scale. If anything “Congratulations” cements MGMT’s place as one of the finest bands of our time.
Let’s start with first release “Flash Delirium”. Initially confusing, it develops into an awe-inspiring, sprawling piece of Brian Wilson style experimentalism, flashing from 60s psychedelia, through flute solos and tribal chanting to finally, and oh so satisfyingly, end up on a primal punk scream. No other band could do all this and still make it sound poppy. The track acts as a microcosm for the album as a whole.
“Congratulations” is fundamentally an affair rooted in the 60s. Early Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, and The Flaming Lips all play massive parts, but there’s an underlying punk element that raises a smile from time to time. Opening track “It’s Working” sounds like a Pixies track from Frank Black’s alien abduction phase. Even though critics have always sighted this as a downturn in the quality of the Pixies output, I loved this tangential shift, and here it’s a welcome influence. Bizarrely, track 2 “Song for Dan Treacy” (main man from Television Personalities) could have been written by Pete Doherty. “I Found A Whistle” is a classic “Oracular Spectacular” moment featuring a slow build based around a simple central theme that will inevitable blind live.
Elsewhere things are far more surreal. “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is a purely instrumental number that finishes with humorous smiles and screams. You get the feeling that this is just some sort of in joke, the details of which we are not privy to. “Siberian Break” ends up sounding like John Cale’s spoken word track “The Gift” off The Velvet Underground’s “White Light White Heat”. “Congratulations” is the album’s glorious, and surprisingly straight, conclusion. It’s the first time we come face to face with the Andrew VanWyngarden, and not surprisingly he’s saying that all he need is “A Great Big Congratulations”. He might not even get that.
This album is a big “fuck you” to those people who only listened to the singles, and couldn’t be bothered to listen to the album as a whole. Those fans will be saying “fuck you” back. They wanted an album of “Kids” and they didn’t get even one. Whether this was born out of the frustration of touring where the audience only bopped to the singles I can only guess. What I am sure of is that this album does miss those phenomenal early singles, but nevertheless “Congratulations” is an excellent follow up, as satisfying as it is deep. It’s an old cliché, but if this had been written by anyone else it would be heralded as the best album so far this decade, which it is. Whether this will be the general consensus remains to be seen. I doubt it.
Release Date 12/04/2010 (Sony BMG)
I started out writing for the Manchester Evening News as a freelance journalist back in 2008. The idea that I would be given free access to music and gigs seemed somehow miraculous to me, and I proceeded to take full advantage of the situation. When the M.E.N. decided to constrict its coverage to only the very biggest bands, Simon Poole approached me with a plan to make sure that all the very talented musicians of this world that pass through and/or live in Manchester would not go unnoticed. As the New Releases editor here at Silent Radio Towers, it remains my proud duty to cast a critical eye over the music and reviews that come my way in a manner that is both supportive and fair. Above all, I strive to write as entertainingly possible. Favourite musicians include the Pixies, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Mercury Rev, Os Mutantes, The Knife, Beach House etc etc. I'm a firm believer that all genres (except nu-metal) contain music of great quality...
