Album Review — MGMT, Little Dark Age
Score: 9 out of 10
It was not that long ago when it felt like the psych-pop duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were tapped out creatively, or at least unwilling to create conventionally written music. Their 2013 self-titled release, although ambitious and forward thinking, felt incredibly scatterbrain and desperately in need of song structure. The allure of their first two albums, Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations, had faded and given way to music that felt more like an exercise than something the public was meant to enjoy.
Perhaps that’s why the title track, which hit Youtube back in mid-October, felt like a complete shock; a sign that a rejuvenated VanWyngarden and Goldwasser would ultimately deliver a record that was smart and fun. Heavily rooted in shadowy 80s goth pop, the single clearly signaled the band would once again go in a retro direction, certainly not a total surprise for a band that made its bones writing 70s inspired music, but exciting nonetheless.
Aligning with the singles that led up to album’s release — “Little Dark Age” and “When You Die” — Little Dark Age does fine of of blending the grooving synths and spacey guitars to create a near-perfect marriage of MGMT’s first two records. As always, VanWyngarden delivers some of his most witty and thought-provoking lyrics.
Despite the album being heavy on lyrical themes such as death and depression, there are comical moments like “She Works Out Too Much”. VanWyngarden sings about about a relationship fizzling due to a superficial mystery woman’s habit to take gym selfies. It’s an apt description of a love-hate relationship as the narrator is being pushed to edge by his girlfriend’s vapidness, while simultaneously obsessing over her and bending backwards to make the relationship work. Shifting to the woman’s perspective, the song delivers one of the duo’s catchiest choruses — “The only reason we never worked out, was he didn’t work out”.
Wisely playing to their strengths, VanWynGarden and Goldwasser not only look ahead to what life and death might hold, but focus on nostalgia — the good, the bad, and the moments that slipped away. Since MGMT’s early hits like “Time to Pretend”, “Kids”, and “Electric Feel”, yearning for the familiar has been an ongoing theme, and the primarily instrumental “Days That Got Away” proves the band is as capable of creating that odd, otherworldly atmosphere as they were back in 2007.
Releasing what is very much a comeback album, MGMT revives the spirit of zany retro pop that made them so lovable in the first place, while refusing to compromise the adventurous spirit they executed so well on Congratulations. In a year that has gotten off to a slow start and offered very few albums which can be played on repeat from front to back, Little Dark Age shines as one of 2018’s best to date.
