If there was ever an album worth trying to understand, it’s MGMT’s newest release “Congratulations.” As a follow up to “Oracular Spectacular,” which sold over 500,000 copies in the United States alone and shoved the previously unknown band into the arms of major record labels and into the hands of indie electro pop lovers, the sound of “Congratulations” was hardly expected.
In an interview with New Music Express Magazine online, lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden said that “Congratulations” is MGMT “trying to deal with all the craziness that’s been going on since our last album took off. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel natural.”
That’s for sure.
It’s ironic that with the first track titled “It’s Working,” it’s clearly communicated that it’s not. For the most part, the album as a whole is a throwback to 1960’s psychedelic rock ’n’ roll. Tracks like “Song for Dan Treacy” and “Someone’s Missing” are ghoulish trips that lead you to an empty grave instead of a magical rabbit hole of enchantment. “Somewhere there’s an honest soul,” VanWyngarden sings. “But it feels like someone’s missing.” I think it’s him.
“Siberian Breaks” is a rather peculiar song on the album as well. MGMT masterfully beats around the bush with what they really mean. “If you can’t save or leave it / leave it dying on the road.” What exactly is it to which MGMT is referring? Fame? Material possessions? Perhaps they are referring to the lack of rest coupled with overwhelming stress that comes with newfound popularity. “If you’re conscious / you must be depressed / or at least cynical.” Well, that doesn’t answer the question but that does say a lot about MGMT. Plus, the fact that “Siberian Breaks” is a 12 minute song with more surprise endings than a “Lord of the Rings” movie seems to attest that rest is much desired but hard to come by. Bummer.
Additionally, their song “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is exactly that – a nightmare. As an instrumental piece, it is the last thing anyone would want to listen to after hearing the rest of the album. Death itself is a nightmare and this song has a melody of organs likely to be heard at a funeral. Listening to “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is hauntingly more nightmarish than the title ensues. It’s like watching someone’s bizarre life over and over on replay as you experience this person being buried alive. The horrific sounds of shrill screams send sirens of utter terror. There is darkness and the howling of wind and wolves of a place so frightening that there is no escape. “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” literally sounds like hell.
The closing track “Congratulations” is something that should be applauded, but not for its own merit. If you can make it through the entire album in one sitting, congratulate yourself by buying an ice cream cone, painting a picture or doing something else pleasurable because “Congratulations” will suck the joyful life out of you with its melodramatic synthesizers on a hauntingly metaphorical repeat.
Yet there is something to be said about this album that sheds light on its ghoulishness that makes way for an appreciation of MGMT’s work. Their purpose for naming the album “Congratulations,” coupled with their strangely cryptic honesty that undoubtedly reveals their discomfort with newfound mass acceptance, keeps MGMT real.
“It was more of a sarcastic congratulations,” VanWynGarden said. “It just feels right. It’s funnier now. We had no idea what was going to happen with the first album in terms of success or radio play. You know, it’s been a crazy year so now it’s more annoying that the second album’s called ‘Congratulations.’”
