Congratulations! It’s the word recent graduates expect to hear after the final notes of “Pomp and Circumstance Recessional” fade into the air. By naming their recent album Congratulations, MGMT offers a preemptive celebration of the success they hope the release will enjoy.
The title track, “Congratulations,” leads off the album and either introduces listeners to the quintessentially MGMT experience or welcomes them back. MGMT immediately presents insightful and intellectually provocative lyrics, “As strange as it seems/ I’d rather dissolve than have you ignore me.” The lyrics throughout the CD are sure to amuse listeners. In “Brian Eno,” MGMT even references the mythological temptresses of the sea with the line: “He promised pretty words and all the sirens I could dream of.” Other lyrics present a recurrence of the theme of youth evident in the band’s work.
In addition to provocative lyrics, MGMT approaches the beginnings of songs and the transitions between them in creative ways. Many of the songs commence with evident international influences. While “Congratulations” opens with an orient-inspired synthesizer line, the beginning of “Flash Delirium” boasts of a more Arabian style. Transitions throughout the CD at times are intentionally abrupt to facilitate a contrast between the songs. For example, the slow pace of “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” provides a nice contrast between the clicking of drumsticks that introduces the more rapid-paced “Brian Eno.”
The album promises to intrigue listeners in a myriad of ways. “Siberian Breaks,” for example, presents the possibility of multiple interpretations. The track title could be referring to specific lyrics in the first part of the song discussing an emotional versus physical cold, “Wide open arms can feel so cold.” The title might also reference the multiple transitions within the song. The song appears less like a singular track and more like a medley of six songs; a kind of auditory marathon.
The complete lack of lyrics in “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” may also intrigue listeners. MGMT leaves the meaning behind the romanticized instrumental arrangement of the song completely up to the folly of the listener’s interpretation.
The effects used throughout the album will captivate listeners. Mechanized shrieking closely follows the entrance of the drums in “Lady Dada’s Nightmare,” while what sounds like the bouncing of a spring compliments the musicality of “Siberian Breaks.” MGMT also employs synthesizer beats generously throughout the album. Sometimes the synthesizer creates a melody; at other times it provides an auditory canvas for the band to blend lyrics. The absence of effects in parts of “I Found A Whistle” is also significant. When “”??Andrew Vanwyngarden sings, “Hey-ah I’ve got a pistol that’s aimed at your heart,” most of the instruments drop out to draw attention to the lyrics.
In addition to mechanized and instrumental effects, MGMT uses vocal effects to create a happily crazed atmosphere on the album. The overlay of voices in “Flash Delirium” is reminiscent of the choral tendencies of a previous release “Kids.”
While the album lacks stand-alone hits like “Kids,” past listeners can still revel in the experimental sounds of MGMT. The sound of clapping concludes the title track “Congratulations” at the beginning of the album. Some might argue that this applause might be best suited at the end of the album to celebrate the past accomplishments of MGMT and the differences of their new sound.
4 stars out of 5
