MGMT - Congratulations

As the tight guitars chime in on MGMT’s new record Congratulations, it’s clear that the time to pretend is over. The duo’s true colors bloom on their second LP, a strange follow-up to the smash success that was 2007’s Oracular Spectacular.

Oracular Spectacular allowed thousands of teenagers to break out their shutter shades, roll up their jeans and sing along with infectious, radio-worthy singles “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel.” As a result, occasional indie-rockers expected a lot from MGMT on this record. But Congratulations doesn’t heed the call of summer station-wagon adventures in Day-Glo hoodies.

Instead, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser tap into their influences: the vast history of psych-pop, from the ’60s to contemporary. The fantastic “It’s Working” recalls Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. “Brian Eno” sounds nothing like its namesake’s music, instead appropriating the zaniness of Dan Bejar of Destroyer fame. It’s as if being hit-makers bored MGMT; Congratulations finds them comfortably wielding the musical tools of a long-lived tradition.

The newfound sense of heritage meets with mixed results. Experimental songs like “Siberian Breaks” and “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” fall flat. The former doesn’t justify its 12-minute runtime, and the latter is an instrumental piece that wanders into nowhere. The single “Flash Delirium” tries to pack operatic variety into four minutes, leaving the listener feeling bereft of any genre in particular.

MGMT’s career is following an odd trajectory; they have moved from surefire pop stars to a band searching for its identity. Congratulations is not a step backward from Oracular, but it hints more at future potential than current control.