It List: Tuesday

I bet you were creaming your jeans to see one of us jerks really rip into MGMT... Well we here at WSJR decided to take the high road and offer a guest correspondent, who has taken more time with the main attraction tonight than anyone here on staff, do the work for us. Without further ado here is a special guest write up by Jann Hammerpants. (FP)

MGMT | Tame Impala (House of Blues)


Fashion-dandy/electro-pop duo MGMT's latest album Congratulations is a welcome curve-ball, an immediately engaging work with strong pop hooks and complex arrangements. The album is enveloped by a pall of weariness and paranoia, and it possesses a pleasing lyrical depth. The themes, while primarily dealing with the hangover of sudden incredible fame, are still vague enough to remain relatable.

The dense production, notably assisted by Sonic Boom, is tight and modern while employing effects and instruments – heavy reverb and the odd sitar, for example – from the heyday of psychedelia. These touches make the moody, stylistically-shifting 12-minute song-suite "Siberian Breaks" especially noteworthy.

In my opinion, the only negatives to be found on Congratulations are the occasional drum part obviously played by a non-primary drummer and the totally skippable instrumental track toward the end of the album. All things considered, this is a surprisingly masterful work of psychedelic pop and the rare "album experience" you sometimes hear bands talk about – but rarely pull off.