Congratulations by MGMT

by Lana Fleischli

Listening to Congratulations made me think about growing up. Yes, I’m going with a corny intro, but let me explain. MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular was probably my favorite album when I was five. I specifically loved “Time To Pretend”, “Kids”, and especially “Electric Feel”. That was my favorite song. It was music that made me happy and want to move and dance and sing my heart out. MGMT played Coachella in 2010, and I will never forget (even though I was five,) that I got to sit on the side of the stage while they played their hit album, Oracular Spectacular, as well as the fact that my friend who was with me had fallen asleep on her mom’s lap by the time their show started. She slept through the entire show while she was on the stage. The thing is, that album was a hit and people were excited about what they had to offer next, they then came out with Congratulations. 

Congratulations was completely different from their previous album. It wasn’t what the public expected, frankly, it wasn’t Oracular Spectacular. However, it was a growth for the band. To be able to make one album, then be able to transform your sound and make an entirely new piece, while still keeping to the core of your music, is pretty impressive. In Congratulations, the core of MGMT’s music is there, but it’s also completely different and I think that that shows talent.

The album is really vibrant with a lot of range. From fun songs like “It’s Working” and “Brian Eno”, to pure instrumental like “Lady Dada’s Nightmare”, it feels colorful and filled with emotion. Like many albums I enjoy, it was cohesive. It sounded better when it was played together in conjunction with the other songs. It’s incredibly artistic and seems hard to pull off. Personally, any band that can pull off an instrumental song like “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” is impressive to me, especially if that’s not what they normally do. 

Now to kind of circle back, I started this article by saying that listening to Congratulations reminded me of growing up, and yes, that is because of how the band itself went forward and tried new things and found more of their sound. The other part is about myself. I never really listened to Congratulations until now, but Oracular Spectacular was a part of my childhood, and I feel like by listening to Congratulations, I also got to look back at my younger self, because like I previously said, MGMT’s sound is present in both albums and you can hear it, but they are different. Call me cheesy, but that’s like how five year old me is me, and sixteen year old me is also still me. I’ve grown and I’ve learned more about who I am and who I want to be, but I’m still me.