MGMT – “Congratulations” 7”
Columbia, 2010
Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2012
Price: $3
Like Arctic Monkeys, MGMT were somehow on the receiving end
of a lot of my ire before ever actually listening to them in depth. The singles
from their debut, Oracular Spectacular,
were infectious synth pop gems, but the way the band torpedoed their surefire
road to success by making a weird, psychedelic follow-up really earned my
respect. Granted, my respect is almost guaranteed if you namedrop Television
Personalities front man Dan Treacy in a song title. Congratulations was a wonderfully weird album that received less
than wonderful reviews. Produced by the living legend Sonic Boom, it sounds
like the album Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden wanted to make. There are shades of their old sound on the Erol
Alkan remix that haunts the b-side on this 7”, but “Congratulations” on its own
is a spare, laid-back affair that borrows the descending chord progression from
The Band’s “The Weight” and somehow wins soulfulness on the back of acoustic
guitar and falsetto vocals. It’s beautiful and trippy and goes nicely with the 16-page
wordless comic that adorns the 7”s gatefold.
"Congratulations"
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