Ever since MGMT burst onto the scene last year with their hit debut album Oracular Spectacular, indie-music junkies have been anxious to hear how the psychedelic/electro-rock band would follow up on their surprise success. However, fans were somewhat perplexed when on their new album, Congratulations, MGMT featured a much darker, more uneasy sound than its previous work.
The upbeat nature and electronically-produced and synthesized melodies of hit singles “Time to Pretend,” “Electric Feel” and Grammy-nominated “Kids,” have been replaced with long, winding songs with mostly deep and mysterious lyrics. It seems as though the band has lost some of its spunk and liveliness that made the first album so popular.
Almost every track on Congratulations sounds like random keyboard parts and guitar riffs mashed into one rambling, multi-part song. Various songs on the album feature influences ranging from ‘50s doo-wop music in “It’s Working” to David Bowie in “Someone’s Missing.”
Front men Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden express their uneasiness with success through the eerie makeup and introspective lyrics of songs like “Congratulations” or the 12-minute long “Siberian Breaks,” which takes the listener on an extended ride into the minds of the somewhat troubled songwriters who are clearly bothered by the side effects that come with being famous.
The band’s lyrics have taken a notable change from chronicling their aspirations to live rich and gaudy lifestyles on Oracular Spectacular, to shying away from fame, money and attention. In the long, rambling songs of Congratulations, MGMT appears to be trying to decrease their fan base, not expand it.
Whereas the band once boasted their “decision to live fast and die young” in “Time to Pretend,” the duo now claims to “rather die before I get sold” in “Siberian Breaks.”
The song that best exemplifies the new, uneasy sound would be “Lady Dada’s Nightmare.” The title pokes fun at a certain oddly-dressed superstar, and the song starts off as a soft, melodious keyboard part, and then morphs into an intense collection of shrieks and moans before softening out again towards the end.
Naturally, the band’s plunge into a deeper and darker sound will split the fan base. On one hand, many will be disappointed that MGMT is unable to reproduce the catchy, award-winning beats on Oracular Spectacular. On the other hand, many people will recognize that playing popular music should never be a concern and that Congratulations just further demonstrates the band’s ambition—which is most likely what made them so popular in the first place. These people will understand that whether they like it or not, it is not in MGMT’s nature to just play the same old stuff.
Even though Congratulations beautifully illustrates MGMT’s musical talent with intricate melodies and harmonies along with deep lyrics, it is somewhat hard to embrace the new strange sound and the album is a bit disappointing compared to the fun and cheeriness Oracular Spectacular.
