MGMT is one of those bands that never should have reached the level of popularity that was bestowed upon them. Not because they don’t make good music (quite the contrary actually) but they’re not a pop band that churns out a hit every couple of years. MGMT’s music is a three-course meal that is to be enjoyed in its entirety.
Their third album “MGMT” is no different. It’s roughly 45 minutes of psychedelic pop that sounds crisp and clear, and though the album can be confusing with the first listen, it rewards returning by revealing its subtle beauty.
Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser are the two men behind the keys and odd noises. They met while attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut and by 2008, their singles “Time to Pretend,” Kids” and “Electric Feel” were popping up in moms’ minivans, the stereo of the girl you buy pot from and the trailer for the not-too-bad teen flick “Sex Drive.”
Their massive hit “Time to Pretend” mocks the flashy rock star lifestyle but the irony is that after that song was released, MGMT entered the very world they once lampooned. Instead of a career fated to pretend, MGMT released “Congratulations” in 2010 and, similar to many artists who went for creativity over popularity, they were met with critical disregard. But the music was good and it pushed the band into a direction of digestible psychedelia.
“MGMT” are the sounds of MGMT burrowing deeper down the rabbit hole but they haven’t lost their knack for adding just enough pop elements to keep it listenable. Beginning the album is the lead single “Alien Days,” an acoustic-based track that is layered with synths, a hammering drumbeat and vocals from a young child. Since psychedelic music is always associated with drugs, “Alien Days” is the sound of a trip’s humble beginnings.
It dissolves into “Cool Song No. 2,” a curious song that can flip between creepy and calming at the change of minor key. Set to be the next single, the song’s music video will feature actor Michael K. Williams who masterfully played Omar Little in “The Wire.” (A man’s gotta have a code …)
MGMT mix in a vibrant cover of the long lost Faine Jade’s song, “Introspection,” and it plays like two music nerds paying their respect to an old bottom-of-the-music-crate hero.
Midway through the record is the instantly enjoyable “Your Life is a Lie.” Clocking in at just over the two-minute mark, “Your Life is a Lie” is the closest thing to a recognizable hit on the album. It crashes around like a tsunami of bass drum, guitars and synthesizers but the perfectly placed cowbell snaps in between the lyric bars are what makes the track a standout. (MGMT recently played on Letterman and VanWyngarden’s oversized cowbell is a spectacle.)
The second half of “MGMT” is what requires the most attention to detail, but once you hear the understated melodies, you’ll unlock the door to musical perception.
There’s an incredibly great Youtube video of MGMT in their early days performing a cover of the Talking Head’s “This Must be the Place” on their university’s campus. It shows them as just two dudes with an electric guitar, a few keyboards and a replaying rhythm sample sharing laughs as they try to hit the song’s final note. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser entered the music scene as kids and though they were not met with instant success, they’ve never stopped exploring.
“MGMT” was released today, Sept. 17, and it can be streamed for free with subscription on RDIO.com