MGMT: Oracular Spectacular

For some of you this duo, based in Brooklyn (NY) may not sound familiar. But you should remember their name (pronounced Management, even though some of us say M·G·M·T), since they're gonna be huge worldwide.

For their debut album 'Oracular Spectacular' (Columbia, 2007), they have worked with Flaming Lips' producer David Fridmann. Maybe this is the reason of some of their psychedelic sound, but we can't just blame him; the guys are talented, and they know it.

The long play begins with some weird sounds, like ripples. This is 'Time To Pretend', their first single. A proper ode to fame. This is a song about livin' it up like real rock stars. While listening to it, you feel elsewhere but where you are - like lost in space or something.

The next song is 'Weekend Wars' (one of my two favorites). It reminds me of David Bowie (definitively it could have been written by him!). According to the band, this song is about a relationship, about making it work: "It's difficult to win unless you're bored."
The bridge could have been sung by The Flaming Lips; and there's this phrase: "I can amplify the sound of light and love" - no comments, just perfect.

'The Youth', third song in the LP, is just delirious! Maybe this year will take place a kind of revival of "the summer of love", if so, we have an hymn!
Remember this phrase: "The youth's starting to change."

'Electric Feel', their second single, could perfectly be MGMT's revision of 'SexyBack' (by its meaning and its sexy ways - no, it has nothing to do with the curly guy). According to the band the song is about "finding a wild woman in the amazon with electric currents running beneath her skin", but we know what it's all about, don't we?

'Kids' (a potential single) is about childhood, about growing up (though there's controversy: some think it's about having faced a parental separation in the childhood). It features some childish noises all over the song, which makes it nostalgic. This is my favorite MGMT song. Remember the phrase: "Decisions are made and not bought."

'4th Dimensional Transition" confirmed my theory, this year a new summer of love will take place. We're entering the new 70s, so prepare yourself to make love and not war!
Well, this song is about this, entering the 4th dimension (I'm not gonna be the one to explain it to you since I don't know too much, so I encourage you to read about it - if you want, of course!)

'Pieces of What' is exactly the kind of song you'd sing at a bonfire, and this song is about confusion: we're realizing how fucked up is our world. Notice the guitar and the tambourine, don't they remind you of good ol' hippie days?

'Of Moons, Birds & Monsters' is another psychedelic song (one more to the list of must-heards). It's about, I think, decisions and how they influence our lives. " The prick of a feather could make a kingdom burn and the bloodshed start."

'The Handshake' states a signed deal. Could it be a recording one? If it's so, it describes really well all the succes, dissappointment and consequences that come with it. Some think it's about acid (and, again its consequences). It reminds me of the "flower power", don't you think?

'Future Reflections' is the perfect ending to this album. It is about a "post-apocalyptic world in which the sole remaining inhabitants are a group of kids who hang out on an island and surf all day" - according to the band. That's it, the perfect end.

I encourage you not to just read this review (which you can perfectly leave unread) but to listen carefully to the album (which you can't leave unheard at all). You're not gonna regret!

Welcome to the new psychedelic sound, welcome to the summer of love!


Video for 'Time to Pretend':