Ever since Oracular Spectacular hit the airwaves in late 2007, there has been a lot of hype and excitement about the duo of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, also known as MGMT. Catching the world by storm with their revolutionary sound, the listening world generally fell in love, seemingly instantaneously. Their synth-infused sounds and catchy beats were pleasant to listen to and became really popular across all genres of music. Even the great Paul McCartney took notice and expressed a desire to work with MGMT. Seeing as the bar was set so high, there was a lot of anticipation when the Brooklyn-based duo announced plans for their sophomore album’s release in 2010.
As the months turned into weeks prior to the release of their 2nd full-length album, Congratulations, a preview of their work was made available by the band. Flash Delirium, track 4 on Congratulations, became a pseudo-single for the record and began receiving large amounts of airtime. Almost immediately, it was obvious that their sound had changed quite dramatically (and not necessarily for the better). Flash Delirium is appropriately named because it’s as if the song’s whirling disorganization has the potential to make any casual listener simply delirious. Siberian Breaks, track 6, is nothing more than a 12-minute marathon of cacophonous hysteria. This album was recorded with former co-frontman of Spaceman 3, Pete Kember. The psychedelic nature of Spacemen 3’s tunes is more evident on this offering from MGMT, perhaps as a byproduct of the collaboration.
Just because the overall sound of the record doesn’t live up it to expectation and isn’t that strong as a whole doesn’t mean the 9-track LP is a total loss. There are enough bright spots to make this a one-time listen. Firstly, Congratulations, the title track, is a really strong composition that has the ambience of happiness most closely associated with MGMT’s initial success. With strong lyrics and a pleasant balance, it’s safe to say MGMT certainly saved their best for last on this record. The band also made a decision to pay homage to Dan Treacy, of the British band Television Personalities, and British record producer Brian Eno in separate tracks. The songs are sung with a fake British accent at times, and are mildly humorous in that respect.
Expectations were undoubtedly high for Congratulations, however, the sound is different on this record and slightly underwhelming. If you can stomach the meandering sounds and shoddy lyric writing of first 36 minutes, you’ll be rewarded in the last 3 minutes and 57 seconds. Once you complete the all nine tracks as a whole, you may be slightly dizzy due to the disorganized sound. I give it a 2.5/5.
