MGMT. Who Iz Them?

 

Are MGMT the coolest band on the planet, or just two more obnoxious Americans?? Hell I don’t know, I was hoping you would. In which case, time to dust off the ‘Cool or Otherwise Testometric Thingamy’ (last used when Arctic Monkeys took over MySpace) and input some raw data;

Are they another band fresh out of stage school?

No, but they did meet at college. Hailing from Brooklyn Andrew and Ben (for tis they) met on campus and developed a reputation as performance art provocateurs, winding up the student population with regular 15 minute noisy and chaotic electro art happenings.

Loops turned into songs and happenings turned into tours, but MGMT still feel like a band that got a record deal entirely by accident and are playing along for the ride (funny how the best bands are often the ones who aren’t trying to be one).

Are their songs any good?

Absolutely, but maybe not for your average Leona Lewis fan. Think Ween meets Spaceman 3 (when they were coming up, not down) with a healthy splash of Head era Monkeys and a touch of Beastie Boys trash rock. But hey, MGMT are much more than that, the lyrics to Time To Pretend are as good a teenage call to arms as you’ll get “This is our decision, to live fast and die young. We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun” and should be compulsorily written in full on the cover of every secondary school exercise book.

Their album Oracular Spectacular veers from the hushed acoustic lament of Pieces of What to the electro funk of Electro Feel (a trashy make out track for those who’ve been up way too long), taking in a fair amount of transcendental meandering along the way. It’s the sound of a band waking up one day in a recording studio and refusing to leave until they done everything they can possibly think of. It’s not particularly progressive (yet), but it is fun.

What do they look like?

Two skinny college dudes wearing kaftans and covered in blood. Well, maybe not all the time, but the video for Time To Pretend is a mish mash of 60s hippydom and 80s video hell which sees the chaps dropping acid and eating raw flesh, surely now must have ingredients for any contemporary promo. MGMT’s look is important to them and it’s strangely naïve, playful and compelling alongside the button perfect stylings of chart fodder or the jeans and t-shirts uniform of the indie worthy.

Do they do anything else?

No clothing range or perfume yet, but their website is worth checking out for its intentionally annoying and garish splendour. Chintzy pictures of princesses and unicorns, search buttons for "tiger" and "nebula" and an irritating pixel trace that follows your mouse relentlessly around the page. No moody band shots and "vote for us at the TWAT awards" appeals here. They’ll probably be making their own art house films sometime soon.

Result:

Definitely obnoxious Americans, but hey, don’t despair. John Lydon was about as obnoxious as they come and that didn’t hurt in the writing of Never Mind The Bollocks. Jim Morrison was patently not the greatest decision maker but thank god for The End and LA Woman. Damon Albarn is reportedly a bit of a mischief maker after a few sherbets, but what would woo-hooing be without him. You want comfortable, get yourself along to the next X Factor tour, you want a little breath in your body, go see MGMT with a belly full of microdots.

Dan MuHead

Get Oracular Spectacular from iTunes or Play.com

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