In 1966, The Beach Boys were unaware that "Sloop John B" would
become a commonplace chant in the football stands. MGMT have taken The Beach
Boys psychedelic sound to a whole new level. First with 2007s Oracular
Spectacular, then completely turned course on 2010s Congratulations.
They're aiming to get back on track, taking the knowledge learnt from Congratulations as they embark on third album territory, and it's self-titled
too.
Today, you'll hear "Sloop John B" at every UK and beyond football
stadium on a Saturday afternoon; I’m wondering if MGMT's synthesizers have the
power to overthrow The Beach Boys harmonies and take over sporting venues in
the coming decades. "Time To Pretend", "Kids",
"Electric Feel", Oracular Spectacular was the ideal psych /
pop / synth / rock debut album. MGMT have stepped away from pop music and they don’t
intend on returning any time soon. "Alien Days" surfaced on this
years Record Store Day, leaving fans satisfied with what is a third MGMT album.
Now, six years after Oracular Spectacular was released, the MGMT you and
I know of are back - and there's no three headed monkeys surfing.
At 2:04, "Your Life Is A Lie" is the shortest MGMT track to date -
it's also the most distinctively punchy. Punk, would never describe the music
behind "Your Life Is A Lie", though the ideas and culture behind what
punk was in the 70s, is whole heartedly replicated with this MGMT track. It's a
middle finger song, without direction. Not intended to offend any set of
people, but to remind them. Simple messages, spoken in straight forward tongue,
repeating over for effect.
MGMT have recorded better songs in the past, and I’m sure tracks from the upcoming third album will be better than this. Some noticeable criticisms inclue the repetitiveness of this track. With its short length, the content really needs to be worth it, unfortunately for MGMT it isn't. The simple message leans towards pretentiousness rather than good material. On the up side of things, the instrumentation for "Your Life Is A Lie" really is an improvement over the dreariness and obscurity of the bands sophomore album. This is a sign of good things to come, however don't expect terrace anthems on album number three.
~Eddie
