MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

There’s something very special about debut albums. For some bands, it defines their sound and the expectations of their following for years to come.  Groups like Green Day, Paramore, Young the Giant, and Modern Baseball have stayed true to the punky, alternative sound they developed on their first record, and their fans don’t seem to tire of it either.  For other musicians, the beginning is just the beginning — a jumping off point for what is next.  It’s the start of an artistic movement that will continue to evolve while new and innovative music is created.  Performers like the Beatles, Radiohead, and David Bowie come to mind.  Regardless, first impressions are crucial, and for MGMT, they nailed their introduction.

 

MGMT is a band from Brooklyn, N.Y. whose sound is a blend of psychedelic and electronic.  It’s made up of two guys; Andrew Vanwyngarden on vocals and guitar, and Ben Goldwasser on the synth.  Now I know what you’re thinking: “Max all psych rock sounds the same!  And holy crap that’s a lot of consonants!” While I am a sucker for artists with psychedelic influences, what I like about these two is how they move away from their forefathers who jammed on huge, sometimes unbearable, instrumentals and insanely long guitar solos.  Their focus is on awesome, spacey keyboard riffs, pounding drums, and cool lyrics with quick turns of phrase.

My favorite part of their sound is how layered it is.   Although the most prominent instrument is keyboard, there are some sweet acoustic guitar parts and other surprises at every turn.  I find myself hitting replay and noticing some new detail each time.

Whether it’s the harmonies on “Time to Pretend” or the quiet finger cymbals on the song “4th Dimensional Transition”, everything from Andrew and Ben is thoughtful and calculated.

My top tracks for this one are: “Pieces of What” which has a singer/songwriter feel as a nice contrast to the rest of the album, “Kids” with it’s awesome opening riff and bass line, and “Electric Feel”.  I can’t wait to see how MGMT develops their sound in their upcoming album that’s supposed to be released early 2018.

I am not as enthusiastic as Max about this album or band.  At times I did find myself interested and engaged, but often I just spaced out when listening.  I do like that the MGMT explored a wide range of sounds and instruments when making tracks.  Some had a techno electronic feel, others surprisingly introduced more traditional instruments like keys and horns giving them a modern jazz kind of swing but a few were just stark and spacey.  With all this variety going on, it is challenging to find a genre of music that adequately characterizes this 2007 album.  In one article I saw it described as Alt Rock / Synth / Fusion, which kind of means to me that it is all over the place.

I also find it a little strange that none of the lyrics have stayed with me even though I have listened to the album a bunch of times. Off the top of my head, I couldn’t give you one line from a song. With the wide variety of sounds,  effects and vocal distortions, it made it difficult to discern the basic melodies of the songs,  so you don’t focus on the words or feel invited to sing a long.  If you take the time to look over the lyrics, you will find there is a common theme of  youthful expression throughout the record, which does come through in the feel of the album.

There are some cool hooks in a few of the songs.  “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” make you nod along and the repetition sticks in your head (for good or bad).   My favorite track on Oracular Spectacular (BTW -What does this title mean anyway?) is “Electric Feel”.   It made me think,  if Beck and Prince did something together you might get something like this.  I like it’s retro take, with smooth grooves, falsetto leads and interesting electronic color.  It all works for me on this one.

MGMT has gotten a fair amount of critical acclaim over the years for this album and others that followed. They toured with some of the biggest names in music and while I admire the creativity and risks they took, this group is just not in my wheelhouse.   40 minutes of experimentation was worth the time visiting this work, but I probably won’t be back here any time soon.

One final thought, I do admire Max’s enthusiasm and openness for artists that display originality and push conventions forward, even if I am not in fan of there music.

 Rolling Stone ranked Oracular Spectacular at number 494 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. and # 57 on its 100 Best Debut Album list. 

This is our decision to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?