Stars: 5/5
The band MGMT keeps its albums on brand while still experimenting with music and the boundaries that come along with the world of pop culture.
Their new album, “Little Dark Age,” is what some are calling their “last chance” at lasting fame. They have had a few hits but none large enough to score them Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” level fame.
“Little Dark Age” is a new album in more ways than one. MGMT has released one of its first consistently listenable albums. This means that every song on the album flows together and tells a story unlike its previous albums, which, in my opinion, didn’t tell a consistent story and didn’t show progression.
Every song can reach a different type of person. “She Works Out Too Much” and “Me and Michael” are upbeat and would probably classify under the umbrella of pop. Both songs tell the stories of star-crossed lovers. “Me and Michael” was originally going to be called “Me and My Girl,” but the band wanted to make the song more equivocal, according to an interview with MGMT and Q Magazine. The song is still about a sweet, long-term, relationship. “She Works Out Too Much” is about an obsessive, perfectionist girl who may have potentially broken an MGMT member’s heart.
The theme of love gone wrong is a large factor in almost any genre, but it isn’t the only theme for this album. “TSLAMP,” the album’s fifth song, is all about the detrimental effects of technology today. The song talks about how all we know is time spent on our phones. This is not something that you’d expect to hear from a techno-electronic-pop band that relies on people spending time on their devices. MGMT knows that everyone, no matter the age, can relate to how technology can be bad for personal relationships.
MGMT’s previous hits, “Kids” and “Electric Feel,” are dramatically different from any song on “Little Dark Age.” In previous albums, particularly “Oracular Spectacular,” the band, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser seemed to sing in harmony. Now, it is clear who is singing which gives the songs a more personal feel.
The more you listen to “Little Dark Age,” the less it sounds like the MGMT we knew, and that may not be a bad thing. The band kept their funky style, but is experimenting with about 40 new undertones of every genre. They incorporate songs that have echoes of Bill Withers and songs related to Empire of The Sun, which couldn’t be further apart from each other.
What MGMT is doing with their new album is genius. They now have songs that my dad, a baby boomer, and sister, a solid millennial, can enjoy together. That is something very beautiful which may even make family road trips that much easier.
