MGMT - Congratulations
Album ReviewsBold, brave, bonkers, and sometimes brilliant.
Columbia, 12th April 2010 / By Gareth O’Malley
First things first: ‘Congratulations’ isn’t terrible. Are those sighs of relief we can hear? Yep, we thought so. Can’t say we blame you. After all, nearly everything that’s been said about this record in the run up to its release has been somewhat worrying.Nor is it as good as MGMT’s debut, ‘Oracular Spectacular’, but then it would have been hard for Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden to equal it. The record was a near-perfect collection of psych-pop gems, and ‘Congratulations’ doesn’t come close.
It has been said of their sophomore record that there isn’t a decent hook to be found anywhere on it. Bullshit. Just because the hooks aren’t MASSIVE (hello, ‘Oracular Spectacular’ singles!) it doesn’t mean they’re not there. There are lots of little things here to reel the listener in. And of course, all those little things start to add up.
Opener ‘It’s Working’ bursts into life, carried along on a wave of post-punk bass-work and drum rolls, before changing about halfway through, and letting some cor anglais (!) and African percussion guide it towards its chorus of ‘It’s working in your blood / But you know it’s not the same’, then gently fading out after an arresting four minutes.
It would seem, then, that while ‘Congratulations’ isn’t exactly the most immediate record in existence, its creators’ sense of fun remains intact. After a few listens, you start to realise that an album like this would make for perfect summer listening, particularly tracks like ‘Song for Dan Treacy’, which helps our ‘lots of little hooks instead of one big one’ argument stand up.
A worrying thing, though, is the amount of reverb that is placed on Goldwasser’s voice throughout the album. We’ve always suspected he can’t sing, but the studio support verges on the ridiculous at times, like on the short and snappy ‘Someone’s Missing’, taking more than just a little away from a great slice of dreamy psychelica that honestly would work as a single if the band were bothered with those things anymore.
So too would the acoustic guitar-and-synths-led ‘I Found A Whistle’. Rather well in fact, as it finds the group venturing into anthemic territory. Lyrically, the song contains some rather clear references to how MGMT have dealt with fame: not all that well, if the mentions of ‘disillusion and grief’ are anything to go by.
‘Congratulations’ has been described by the band as ‘a collection of nine individual musical tours de force sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence’. Er… right. The thematic coherence, we get; the sonic coherence, we definitely don’t. There are lots of different movements packed into each of the nine tracks here, but on the sprawling, twelve-minute ‘Siberian Breaks’, MGMT take it one step further and place about seven different songs within. Starting as a mid-tempo acoustic number, the song goes through all sorts of changes: first, a waltzing, piano-led section (with lots of pointed references to the perils of fame. A ‘plane that’s ‘expected to crash and then burn’, anyone?); then, an arena rock part (reverb-soaked drums are of course present); after that, a strings-drenched baroque-pop bit, that ties nicely into a recap of the original idea, before everything falls away and a swirling synth-and-drum-machines coda brings the song to a close. It’s a lot to take in, but, as with the record itself, perseverance brings rewards.
Next up is the exuberantly playful ‘Brian Eno’, which is actually about Goldwasser meeting the man himself ‘in like a cathedral’, as we’ve been told. A great return to uptempo MGMT after ‘Siberian Breaks’, it features a horn part that is probably the most memorable hook on the entire record, able to stick in the head like nothing else.
The penultimate track is the instrumental ‘Lady Dada’s Nightmare’. Yes, we said instrumental. It’s easy to overlook it, precisely because it’s an instrumental, but the widescreen piece displays an oddly beautiful side to MGMT, something we’d like to see a little more of in future.
The album’s closer is its title track, which sees the summery vibe explored in its opening third make a reappearance. More references to the duo’s position as reluctantly famous people are evident here: ‘It’s hardly sink or swim, when all is well if the ticket sells’. Acoustic guitar, rumbling bass and simple drums combine to great effect.
They’re going to lose more fans than can really be considered fair. The record is certainly going to separate the wheat from the chaff, but MGMT can take comfort in the fact that regardless of whether ‘Congratulations’ is loved or hated, they will earn respect for taking such a massive risk. Bold, brave, bonkers, and sometimes brilliant.
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