The eagerly-anticipated follow up to MGMT's 2008 smash-hit album, "Oracular Spectacular" is set to hit record store shelves on April 13th, and unfortunately for this talented duo, the hype is virtually insurmountable. "Oracular Spectacular," while a bit top-heavy, unleashed a string of hits on the mass public with a magnitude comparable to Outkast's epic, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below." Listeners just simply could not deny the catchy, intoxicating grooves of "Time To Pretend," "Kids," Electric Feel," and even the less-heralded "Weekend Wars."The new album, titled "Congratulations," steers away from the the hit-after-hit format in favor of more of a concept album feel, which is precisely why the band has already announced that they don't plan to release any singles off of this album. In an interview with the English publication NME, the duo stated,
"We'd rather people hear the whole album as an album and see what tracks jump out rather than the ones that get played on the radio – if anything gets played on the radio. There definitely isn't a "Time to Pretend" or a "Kids" on the album. We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it."Before delving deeper into the tracks of this record, I just have to come out and say, "Nine tracks? REALLY?" I know the band is going for a concept album feel, but come on, unless you're trying to be the next "Dark Side of the Moon" or the tracks contain multiple movements and are epically long, and this album doesn't approach either of these possibilities, you can't expect to get away with such a finite album length. "Finite" is probably the kindest word I could have used in that sentence, and for good reason, because while this album is short enough to not have to scroll down to see all the tracks on a standard iPod, that's not to say it's not good. It's just disappointingly concise.
The lead-off track on the new record is titled, "It's Working," and aptly so, as it works as a great introduction to the feel of this record. The entrancing feel of the verses and the diverse instrumentation presented in each of the verses, everything from rapid-fire bongos to some Bach-esque harpsichord, provide a solid infrastructure for some kind of concept, though I have yet to decipher exactly what that "concept" might be as of yet, but it's definitely psychedelic.
"Song for Dan Treacy" follows up "It's Working" and is a bit more frantic than the lead of track. The synth riffs that layer the track may be far from catchy, but they are certainly bouncy. As I finished writing that sentence, I realized how truly difficult is is for me to describe the sounds that are being emitted from my headphones, but their definitely pleasurable. I may not be humming the later, but listening to it while walking the sidewalks of the city might certainly put some spring in my step.
My favorite piece of this album comes in the third track "Someone's Missing," but unfortunately, it doesn't develop until the last 40 seconds of the 2-minute track, and it's almost too brief to be truly satisfying. As instruments an layers continue to be added to the basic song structure of the first minute of the track, the song finally erupts into something that could loosely be referred to as a chorus, completely with a funky "Electric Feel"-esque guitar riff and danceable percussion. I just want the end of that track to go on forever, but sadly, before you can even begin to get your groove on, it fades into nothingness.
"Flash Delirium" is probably as close as this record comes to replicating the poppy bliss of the "Oracular Spectacular" singles. Though the track begins very minimalist, it ends up far from it's humble beginnings. While the chorus of "Flash Delirium" is certainly unique and catchy, the instrumentation and vocal effects make me wonder, "Hmmm, I wonder when the band met Of Montreal and which one of them snagged the sheet music."
"Siberian Breaks" is the only track on the record that breaks the five-minute mark, clocking in at a hefty 12:09. The swirling nature of the vocal effects around the surprisingly authentic instrumentation of the beginning of this track makes it feel very "White Album." The 8-bit synth forces the flow of the track until most of the instrumentation drops out to begin a very thunderous movement. I say "thunderous" because the reverberations end echo of the percussion create a very surreal effect and consequently make the swooning of the coming strings that much more pleasant until the end of the track takes the listener for a ride on a psychedelic superhighway Personally, the polarity of the simplistic and complex elements of this track make it the opus of the album for me, but unfortunately, none of those elements necessarily make it accessible to new listeners.
I am aware that I haven't really touched on the lyrical content of this record yet, and it's not necessarily on purpose, but I feel that the lyrics of this record take a backseat to the musical textures. That is, until "Brian Eno." The lyrics of this track are definitely as "fun" as any others that I have heard from MGMT, and I'm not sure if they were supposed to make me laugh, but they certainly did. If you're familiar with the Eno's production work, and I'm sure you are but you just don't know it, you will totally understand the hilarity and truthfulness of the lyrical content. "So tired, soul searching, I followed sounds to a cathedral. You can imagine my surprise to find that they were produced by Brian Eno."
After a lackluster instrumental piece entitled "Lady Dada's Nightmare" (perhaps because it lack's any catchy lyrics) the album concludes with a soothing ballad called, Congratulations." This might be perhaps the most "normal" song in terms of song structure on the record. I hate to use that word, "normal" because it is so relative, but the rest of this tracks just seem like such musical outliers that you actually legitimately notice when a song applies to standard structural formats. One reason I may love this song so much may be because the bass-line sounds so similar to that of my favorite song of all time: The Band's "The Weight." The acoustic guitar, complimenting percussion, and surprisingly accentual key strokes make this piece more than worthy of the applause that closes out the record.
If you enjoyed the rich textures that defined the second half of "Oracular Spectacular" then you are in for a treat with "Congratulations." If you're looking for a string of radio-friendly hits, you're not going to find it here, but that's no reason to shy away from the record entirely. Personally, I have grown to really appreciate the qualities of the record, but unfortunately, it has left me wanting too much more. I know it is the goal of any good artist to leave the listener wanting more, but this nine-track album makes me wonder if it has true staying power.
7.8 out of 10
