In a clandestine operation, we here at TheVine got into the back of a bus with strangers recently and...listened to the new MGMT record Congratulations in full. Whilst using the supplied crayons to draw our thoughts on each song. Not a metaphor.

But enough of the stuff your parents said you should never do; what's apparent on first listen to Congratulations is that Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser have stayed true to their word - nothing on this record is going to trouble the dance floor. Nor the singles charts, at a glance.

Sure the album will debut at #1 on anticipation alone, but when word spreads that the dynamic duo have indulged their newfound band tendencies, grafting long passages of trippy classic rock onto short bursts of saner, Beatles-infused, AM-inflected pop, the drop off will be noticeable. This ain't a bad thing. MGMT have made a (mostly) upbeat album for themselves, and it's the kind that will separate the people who have 'Kids' and 'Electric Eeel' buried somewhere on their iPods and those that have the meaning of 'Future Reflections' tattooed on their inner thigh. Divisive.

Still, it's hard not to be disappointed. After the gorgeous depth of production from Dave Friddman on Oracular Spectacular (he only mixed the new record this time around), Congratulations sounds flat in comparison, and with less dynamics. That definitely could've been the tinny version in our ears, but it just doesn't seem to 'pop' like Oracular does.

Enough of the dubious audiophile-ia. Here's some initial thoughts from our one listen to the record, song by song and from memory. With a grain of salt, people:

(UPDATE: Now with live video versions)

'Sonic Boom intro'

What it sounds like. A droll spoken word introduction voiced with faux importance by (presumably) Congratulations producer and Spaceman 3 member Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember. Over a burbling, spacey soundtrack it weirdly references Lady GaGa and (Ed, we think) Hardy before welcoming you to "Congratulations". Interesting. Maybe once. Curiously, this isn't currently listed on the otherwise accurate Wikipedia entry for the album.

'It's Working'

A short-ish, quick pop song. One that would've been one of the better tracks here had it been lengthened.

'Flash Delirium'

As discussed previously. Still interesting to listen to, but still nothing to sing along with. Though as Ben Goldwasser recently told Spinner, that was kind've the point:

"When we first wrote that song, we were laughing so hard," MGMT's Ben Goldwasser tells Spinner. "Andrew [VanWyngarden] just reminded me of that -- that we thought it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard. And then we got used to it, it started to sound more normal. It's not a single, but we thought it was a good way to entice people to listen to the whole record. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think it's completely weird and not what they were expecting. I'm sorry."

"We're trying to come to grips with that world," he admits. "It's not our world. We don't feel comfortable in it. But we didn't want to make that typical second album either, about fame. So we're definitely observing it, as opposed to revelling in it." 


MGMT - 'It's Working' and 'Flash Delirium'

'Song for Dan Treacy'

A slightly schizo, fairly hook free track that conjures up references to both The Doors and Mr.Bungle's carnival sounds with it's quick, woozy organ. VanWyngarden nearly adopts a fey toffee accent in parts. Think I heard the lyric 'Hope I die before I get sold' at it's closing but could be wrong.


MGMT - 'Song For Dan Treacy'

'Someone's Missing'

Begins with a spare acoustic and melancholic reverby vocals before snapping into an almost Jesus Christ Superstar/Polyphonic Spree, 'handsin the air' type affair.

'I Found a Whistle'

Our favourite song on the record. Harks closest to maybe 'Pieces of What' from the first album in vibe; a classy, acoustic based tune about - oddly enough - finding a magic whistle that keeps playing. Shows the touches of surrealism that grew more pronounced as Oracular Spectacular went deeper. Probably also the catchiest song on the record.



MGMT - 'Time to Pretend' into 'I Found A Whistle'

'Siberian Breaks'

This is the epic. Beginning with an almost drink lounge vibe, it sounds like 3 or 4 songs grafted together; several times we looked at the track time to see if a new song had begun. Reminds of Oracular-era B-Side 'Metanoia'.


MGMT - 'Siberian Breaks'

'Brian Eno' 

A trashy, scrappy guitar song about Brian Eno being cool. For this I drew Eno driving an iceberg. Pretty cool.


MGMT - 'Brian Eno'

'Lady Dada's Nightmare'

Geddit? A spiralling, grubby instrumental number that even on first listen starts to drag.

'Congratulations' 

The band have been playing this live recently. A summery, languid, classically arranged song that hints lyrically at the tongue-in-cheek self-parody of 'Time to Pretend'.


MGMT - 'Crongatulations'

There you have it. To be fair, Congratulations is too dense to accurately comment upon on one listen. We're looking forward to seeing what - if anything - is going on below the surface when it comes out April 13th.