MGMT by MGMT

Firstly I just want to start off by saying that I’ve always admired MGMT and their musical directions. “Oracular Spectacular” first burst on to the scene in 2007 and it was a huge success thanks to the singles “Time To Pretend” and “Kids”. MGMT then followed up with 2010’s “Congratulations” and this album got rather mixed reviews from the critics. The reason it was mainly criticized was because it didn't contain any radio friendly songs such as “Kids” and “Time To Pretend”. “Congratulations” was bold, ambitious and it wasn’t afraid to push the boundaries of music. The album even contained a 12 minute prog rock song and an instrumental too. But this is why I really admire MGMT: they didn't want to make another radio friendly album; they wanted to explore different kind’s music and experiment with their sound. They didn't care if the album didn't sell, they just wanted to do their own thing and you've got to admire a band as ballsy as that.

The year is now 2013 and we've got MGMT’s self titled third album (let’s just call it “MGMT 3”). “MGMT 3” is basically the same sort of concept as “Congratulations” so if you only liked “Oracular spectacular” then don’t bother reading this review or listening to the album. The album is essentially a very psychedelic sounding album like “Congratulations” but it’s far more experimental in terms of its tonality and production. There are loads of noisy synthesizers and hazy sounding effects just going on everywhere. Think of a more modern, more synthier version of “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles and you’re pretty much there. The production and instruments sound bizarre though and the song writing gets a little lost because there is so much going on in the background.

The first half of the album is pretty good but then it just gets pretty messy except for a few exceptions. The first single “Your Life Is A Lie” really grows on you, when you first listen to it you think “Is this the best thing MGMT can come with: a measly two minute noise pop song?” however the melody is actually really infectious and you will find yourself humming along to those 5 or 6 notes. The album’s opener “Alien Days” is also a rather fascinating track. It starts off with a random little boy harmonizing with lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden and this creates a cool eerie sounding psychedelic pop song. “Cool Song no 2” is a driving acoustic piano song with deep pitched sounding bongos. The track then builds up with many strange synths appearing in the background. It’s one of the more stripped back songs on the album. “Mystery Disease” has a really catchy beat, crazy synths and blurry sounding vocals. “Introspection” is a brilliant cover of a 60’s classic and it’s the least synthy song on the album. All of these songs described are great because they actually contain a nice clear melody hook somewhere.

However the second half of the album just makes you get annoyed because there is so much going in terms of instruments. You can barely hear the vocals because there are so many noisy synthesizers going on. “A Good Sadness” is a good example of this and so is “An Orphan of Fortune”. There should actually be a 100 pound reward to whoever can make out the lyrics in these songs because it’s pretty much impossible to make them out clearly. “I Love You Too, Death” is also another good example of this; however it manages to redeem itself with some interesting sounding piped instruments. “Plenty of Girls in the Sea” sounds like a Beach Boys inspired psychedelic pop song but it just sounds dull. The main hook on it is nowhere near catchy enough to match the Beach Boys inspired sound they were going for. “Astro- Mancy” is really the only good song on the second half of the album. Its how this album should sound in terms of production: synthesizers that are more light sounding with less noise, whilst also keeping the hazy sounding effects. Also the vocals aren't entirely drowned out by the instrumentation.

This album really could've been something special if the production was a little better and the song writing was more polished in places. “Congratulations” was brilliant because it was experimental and it was also accessible too. “MGMT 3” is a difficult listen and it’s not one that I would recommend unfortunately. Go back to the production sound you had on “Congratulations” MGMT and get rid of the pretentious noisy rubbish. Overall “MGMT 3” is a lost cause.

        

OVERALL: 5/10

BEST TRACKS: Introspection, Astro-Mancy, Cool Song no 2.  

WORST TRACKS: Plently of Girls in the Sea, A Good Sadness, An Orphan of Fortune.