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MGMT’s 2008 debut, Oracular Spectacular was a breezy, fun-loving psychedelic romp—a mix of mellow music to chill by and catchy retro music (like hit singles “Electric Feel” and “Kids”) to get up and dance by. With their sophomore release, however, MGMT seems to have traveled even farther back in time—and the result is one laid-back trip.
From beginning to end, Congratulations will transport you back to another time; the entire album feels like a nine-song voyage through the ‘60s. In fact, the groovy, high-energy opening track, “It’s Working” sounds like it came straight off one of those old flower child eight-tracks that your parents used to play while they drove around town in their VW bus. “Song for Dan Treacy,” too, is trippy retro, with a frantic beat accompanied by occasionally eerie organs.
The album slows down for a while on the third track with “Someone’s Missing,” a quiet, sleepy track, with falsetto vocals that eventually melds into what sounds like a ‘60s sitcom theme song. Then track after track of mellow, retro tunes seem to blend into one another in a psychedelic haze. And if the 12-minute sixth track, “Siberian Breaks,” doesn’t cause you to slip into a semi-comatose state, well, then you’ve probably had too much caffeine. There’s a chance that it’ll pull you out again as the song picks up in both tempo and volume somewhere around the ten-minute mark—or you might just stay in your haze until the beginning of the quirky (and cheeky) seventh track, “Brian Eno.”
The dark haunting instrumental number, “Lady Dada’s Nightmare,” is then followed by the title track—another mellow number, but it’s also my favorite song on the album.
Congratulations is an album full of disorienting sounds that will take you on a psychedelic trip through time—at times Tripping Daisy…or Pink Floyd…or The 5th Dimension. It’s distorted and disorienting. But while it’s definitely an unusual journey, it’s simply too much of the same thing—and, after a while, it’s just not all that interesting anymore.
MGMT’s sophomore release is sleepier and far less memorable than their debut. You won’t find any catchy, sing-and-dance-along tracks like “Electric Feel” this time around. It isn’t a get-up-and-go kind of album; it’s more of a zone-out-on-the-couch kind of album.
If you’re looking for a laid-back retro mix to play in the background at your next eccentric hipster wine and cheese party, then, Congratulations does make for an intriguing musical experience. But, whatever you do, don’t listen to it while driving—because you could very well fall asleep, only to wake up when you crash into the barriers along the highway.
