The follow up to world-beating debut 'Oracular Spectacular' is devoid of any insta-hits - but there's a refreshing willingness to move forward, with the US duo's trippy, poppy psychedelica being taken to a new level.
'Congratulations' seems like a bit of a premature statement for any album title, but it makes sense that a band like MGMT would proclaim their second record in such a boastful manner. It seems like only yesterday that Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser swaggered into our lives - but if they were an arrogant duo, it was not without good reason, with impressive calling card 'Oracular Spectacular' under their belts.
Yet worry began to creep in when the pair boldly announced that a) its follow-up would "not have any singles", and b) that it dealt with the trappings of the fame that they've encountered over the past two years. Self-indulgence? Sounds like its epitome. Nevertheless, 'Congratulations' is a surprisingly enjoyable album that admittedly has its fair share of unnecessary decadence (12 minute long 'Siberian Breaks' is slightly ridiculous), but is a definite evolvement for the Brooklyn band.
True, there won't be many festival-goers singing along to the simple strummed guitar and rattlesnake percussion of 'I Found a Whistle' or the hippyish, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds-like opener 'It's Working', but that's certainly no bad thing. There's still plenty to get heads nodding - like 'Song for Dan Treacy' (a jaunty number with a funereal organ riff and a bassline swiped from a Belle & Sebastian tune), or 'Brian Eno', a song straight out of a slapstick chase scene in Scooby Doo.
It's about as far from the upbeat electro-pop of their debut as you can imagine (although songs like the trippy 'The Youth' from that album hinted at a potential future direction); a brave move, or a foolish one? Well, we can't speak for the atrocious cover art, but we're leaning towards the former when it comes to the music.
