On the first go-around of “Congratulations” by MGMT, I wasn’t quite sure what I had just heard. Was it really the same band that created “Kids,” the only song to ever last longer than a few months as my ringtone?
How could a band with such infectious hits as “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” make an album that was so, well, ordinary?
But then, ordinary just wasn’t the right word. The album in its entirety, as the band desires it to be viewed, is far from ordinary, far from catchy, far from boring and yet far from attention-grabbing.
It seemed as if “Congratulations” had played through its 44 minutes hardly breaking rhythm from track to track. So I gave it another listen before forming an opinion.
MGMT seems to be weeding out the pop fans that bought more than a million copies of its 2007 release of “Oracular Spectacular,” as it pays tribute to psychedelic punk rock of the 1960s.
“Congratulations” starts off with an upbeat and harmonious track with “It’s Working,” which induces drug-like images of rainbows and tie-dye.
You’ll find a hint of the MGMT we know from the final tracks of “Oracular Spectacular” with the fourth song, “I Found A Whistle.” But the very next track “Siberian Breaks” throws you into a 12-minute long adventure visiting every aspect that makes up modern rock.
Although nothing off of “Congratulations” will reprise “Kids'” role on my cell phone, the album will receive plenty of late-night playtime when the mood calls for an escape from reality.
