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Sunday, March 21, 2010

MGMT - Congratulations review


“Congratulations”, psychadelic alternative rock duo, MGMT’s sophomre album, is definitely a change from their debut “Oracular Spectacular.” Like they said, there is no “Kids”or “Electric Feel”, but elements of their other songs are there. “I Found A Whistle” sounds similar to “The Youth”, but better and more developed, while “Siberian Breaks is structured similar to “Metanoia”, but that song has so much going on, it’s easier explaining what isn’t in the song. I guess the main difference is the trade of Oracular’s infectiousness, for Congratulation’s superior production. The debut was a random mixtape, more or less, of catchy songs, compared to this albums cohesiveness. The first two songs “It’s Working” and “Song For Dan Traecy” are fast paced, toe tapping, surf rock, with their usual psychedelic twists. “Song For Dan Traecy” even includes a bongos! Unfortunately, the way the album is sequenced “Brian Eno” wounds up sounding like a overly quirky mash of other two though. A lot of the quirks do pay off though. “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is ironically a dreamy sounding (when you don’t listen to the death moans in the background) instrumental, with strings, pianos and synths, while the almost undisputed best song “Siberian Breaks” just keeps developing with every new sub song, until it’s utterly dazzling finish. The leak of “Flash Delirium” now makes sense and is probably the catchiest and subtly funkiest song on the album. I guess the glaring problem from this style change is that these are good songs, but their debut was full of compelling anthems for people. People could relate to “Kids” and the idea behind “Time to Pretend”, which just added to the catchiness. These songs kind of feel soulless, other than the finale, the title song “Congratulations”. It is the only time where Andrew Vanwyngarden’s vocals take center stage and easily the most compelling song here. The album is definitely a giant leap forward musically, but just as much of a giant leap backwards in everything that made Oracular Spectacular what it was. Take that sentiment anyway you want, personally I like this.

7.8/10
Listen to: “Siberian Breaks”, “Flash Delirium”, and “Congratulations”
Avoid: “Brian Eno” and “Someone’s Missing”

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