Album #64 : MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

MGMT

Oracular Spectacular (2007)

MGMT (basically Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Vanwyngarden) hit the musical world in 2007 with debut album Oracular Spectacular. Their vaguely psychedelic synthpop sounds, evidenced on the album's big hit singles, were a smash with pop audiences who were looking for grand anthems with big dancey drums. Consequently, the band became a staple of shitty pop commercial radio. 

I mention this at the beginning because it's important to establish that MGMT have never aspired to be this kind of group. By their own admission, this album was an aberration; explaining why from this point, they sought to distance themselves from traditional popular sounds and embrace their psychedelic space-prog side. This was partly fuelled by a frustration that people had ignored every song on this debut long-play other than the hits.

As you'll see, all the people that bitched and moaned upon their second album's release (I remember it well, dickheads gnashing and wailing and crying "BUT THEY ARE POP WHERE IS THE POP ALL THESE SONGS ARE BORING LOL") never listened to Oracular Spectacular because those spacey tunes are here in abundance.

The moral? Fuck scenesters who turn up to gigs, scream and sing two songs in two hours and spend the rest of their time bitching that they "don't know this song, why don't they play something I know?"

The Album

For all my aforementioned crapping on about people only getting the singles, it has to be said that those singles are really, really good pop songs (though one I find a little overrated). Opener Time To Pretend features some really clever lyrics about the shallow and vacuous celebrity life (the references to finding models, breeding with them, divorcing them and then finding some more models, is a pretty accurate description of a number of rock stars). It's wrapped up in a very buzzy, booming synthesiser soundscape (more on the buzziness later). Kids is another booming track with a catchy synth riff and hooky vocal melody; the drums are the closest thing to club beats on the album, while there's an instrumental bridge that is mesmerising, yet simple.

The overrated single is Electric Feel. It's pretty good, don't get me wrong; more catchy synths and vocals, but it doesn't have the same urgency or attention-grabbing quality as the other two singles. 

There's two other songs before Kids that are part of the first five tracks (the 'pop' suite, if you will.) Weekend Wars is a personal favourite; sparse guitars in the first verse, before there's layers of synthesisers that come in, along with a raising of the tempo. The choruses are dreamy, and the coda is quite dazzling, with a change in key and structure. It's a really solid tune. The Youth is nice enough but a bit throwaway. It lacks the hooks of the singles or the slightly different sonic approach of Weekend Wars.

The second half of the album is where Goldwasser and Vanwyngarden's desire to be a space-rock band comes to the fore. Starting with the suitably non-pop 4th Dimensional Transition, the remaining tracks wind their way through the sort of unfocused, lightly rambling psychedelia that would later find a home on their second album, Congratulations, albeit in far better style than here. The pick here is probably Of Moons, Birds and Monsters, of which half is devoted to a proper prog-rock sonic exploration, that is sweeping and tuneful in that spacey prog style; it is the best indicator of where the band would go in the future. The Handshake ventures back into the pop sphere briefly, only without the danceable, singable beats and hooks of the pop tunes, Future Reflections is extraordinarily aptly titled, given it is another precursor to their future sound; guitar driven, heavy on the reverb, messing with typical song structures (it's not a bad tune either, actually), and Pieces of What is a terrible song. I will devote no more space to it.

At the end, I reflected back on the album's overall sound. It confirmed for me that the band have always been more interested in the psychedelic progressive style. It's here. There's plenty of it. Hell, there are even touches in the pop songs that pop scenesters went all OMGWTFBBQ over. It's a perfect example of why I started this project in the first place; people not buying albums, just cherrypicking singles, expecting everything to be like that, and acting indignant when their expectations don't match reality. 

I also need to mention the buzzy, fuzzy sound that is awash here. That's thanks to producing maestro Dave Fridmann (who has appeared several times in the LOAD Project already, notably on The Flaming Lips and Sleater-Kinney), who took the original squeaky clean mixes and made them filthy. Then again, this sort of synth-heavy multilayered sound is right up his alley.

The Verdict

Oracular Spectacular is a solid, enjoyable listen, for the most part. Like most debut albums, it has its weak moments, and is a little inconsistent because of it. But the singles are good tunes, a few of the album filler tracks are very good as well, and it's well produced. There's enough to make it a decent recommendation.

My rating: ***

Standout Tracks

Weekend Wars

Time To Pretend

Kids

Tomorrow's album? MOAR METAL!