MGMT – Congratulations

Review assisted by Brian Eno’s ‘Oblique Strategies’.

‘Oblique Stategies’ is a set of (about 100) published cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975.  They are used for breaking deadlocks or dilemmas, with each phrase or cryptic comment acting as an ‘oblique’ suggestion or pivot for action.

Step 1 – Trust in the you of now
Awards aren’t everything, but it’s hard to ignore NME’s coveted ‘best album of 2008′ for MGMT’s debut Oracular Spectacular, and the band’s follow-up Congratulations has been eagerly awaited.  The release has so far been troubled by the lack of an obvious single, after the meteoric success of songs like ‘Time To Pretend’, ‘Electric Feel’ and ‘Kids’ on the first record.  Initially asking fans to listen to the new album as a whole rather than individual tracks, strange echoes of the recent Pink Floyd-EMI court case, adverse reaction to taster track ‘Flash Delirium’ has thrown MGMT’s core duo of Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser into a spin over the music’s lack of commercial appeal. So is it a case of last-minute jitters or should they really be worried?

Step 2 – Look at the order in which you do things
Talk of a sophomore slump may be premature. In fact, the so-called ‘difficult’ second album has seen many great musical moments, for every Stone Roses Second Coming‘ there’s a Radiohead The Bends, a Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique... or even Led Zeppelin … erm … II?  For theirs, MGMT have neatly sidestepped an ‘Oracular II’ and avoided cliched songs about fame and fortune, preferring instead to toy with elements of British psychedelia, and extend some of the more expansive musical themes tucked away at the end of the first album.

Step 3 – Don’t be frightened to display your talents
The band describe Congratulations as “a collection of nine individual musical tours de force sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence”.  In fact, the music careers wildly between different styles, but beats with a beautiful psychedelic heart, everything you’d expect and more from a producer like Pete Kember of Sonic Boom (and also formerly Spaceman 3).  On this album, MGMT  wear their hearts on their sleeves … musically it’s all over the place, but in all the right places!

Step 4 – Use an old idea
The twangy guitar intro of ‘It’s working’ winds the record up like a coiled spring, a great stomping beat and a  melody packed with psychnuggets, spine-tingling strings, harpsichord and echoey vocals. It’s hard not to hear the influence of Zombies lost classic ‘Odyssey & Oracle’ which infuses the whole of the album, but the opener’s playfulness also reminds me of TV shows like ‘The Monkees’, and ‘Banana Splits’ of all things!  ‘It’s Working’ sets a high watermark for the rest of the album, but second up, ‘Song for Dan Treacy’ leaps off the blocks again.  Dedicated to Television Personalities cult artist and 60s teen culture obsessive, the quick-fire lyric and quirky organ, more a ‘Watching The Detectives’ than any 60s TV, but bubblegum pop at its finest.  ‘Someone’s Missing’ explodes into life after a quiet start, but somebody pulls the plug before all the bombast can spoil it … “Someone’s telling it all to me I’m cut and I’m weeping like a rubber tree”, it’s a strangely understated moment, but one of the album’s finest.  Phew!  10 minutes in and MGMT have swept away all my prejudices…

Step 5 – Revaluation (a warm feeling)
And basically that’s the way it continues for the next 30 minutes or so.  The 12-minute sprawling epic ‘Siberian breaks’ is worthy of note, as is ‘Flash Delirium’, of course (and check out the crazed video accompanying the song on their website, a work of genius!), and the wonderfully shambolic pop of ‘Brian Eno’, another great spirit behind this recording. But I would encourage anyone interested in MGMT’s Congratulations to be patient, like most great albums it’s hard to get on a first listen.

Step 6 – Simply a matter of work
Doubtless Dave Fridmann tidied up things at the mixing stage, but in case you were thinking of revisiting Oracular Spectacular Brian Eno himself was puzzled at being asked to re-join Roxy Music, why would you repeat something you’d done so well first time round?  MGMT have seen off the artistic challenges of their sophomore effort by refusing to do the same thing twice.  The understated disparate charms of this album have replaced the bombast of its predecessor, wrong-footing many, but the element of surprise is what keeps us all interested in music, right?  Last word to Brian and his ‘oblique strategies’ …

Step 7 – Idiot glee? :)

Matthew Haddrill