Released January 22nd, 2008 on Columbia Records
Little known fact about this band: They opened for Paul McCartney on one of his last few tours. Knowing that makes some sense, because without that connection I don't think I would have made the connection to the Beatles. If Paul and John had kids that were as talented as they were and are, and those kids were brought up on keyboards and synths rather than guitars then the result would be MGMT. The music is just lush with Beatles like energy and weirdness, but weirdness that is not off-putting instead inviting. MGMT's sophomore full length demands that the listener get up and listen to the music, dance a little but eventually delve into the weirdness and let yourself go. The lyrics are what are most striking on this album, whether they are jamming out on today’s deposable world and even more disposable youth culture("Kids") or looking at the rock and roll dream with unflattering and unflinching realism ("Time To Pretend", they are talking about things that most bands talk about but never in the same manner. However the greatness of this album and the promise of this band, there is one key difference between MGMT and the Beatles: the Beatles produced epic amounts of material in the space of ten years (1960 to 1970) and that is part of the reason they are considered such masters. MGMT for all their talent have only produced three albums, if you include the forthcoming Congratulations, and a handful of EPs. If they are opting to be the next Beatles then they need to get writing.
Rating - 3.5 out of 5
Best Track - "Time to Pretend" - This song is colossal; I just cannot get past it.
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