MGMT's Oracular Spectacular hit retail stores last Tuesday and I can't remember a time when I was this impressed with a band's debut album. Rolling Stone finally got something right when they named these guys a band to watch in '08. Oracular Spectacular is 40 minutes of shape-shifting psychedelic pop. The album starts off with "Time To Pretend"; an homage to what true rock n' roll is all about. "Let's make some music make some money find some models for wives/I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars." This is something you'd expect to hear on a Guns N' Roses album with heavy guitar licks, but MGMT takes a different route altogether and blends heavy synth beats with poppy instrumental hooks. By the time you get to "Electric Feel" and "Kids" you don't know whether you want to get up and start dancing, or continue to sit back and examine the steadily crafted lyrics. The second half of "Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters" sounds like something Pink Floyd would have cooked up in the early days during their Dark Side Rehearsals. The sonic adventure is definitely a high point on the album. "The Handshake" is an ode to the music industry and getting lost in the chaos that can arise. The song begins, "I just shook the handshake/I just sealed the deal/I'll try not to let them/Take everything they can steal." By songs end, the listener is surrounded by the opportunistic chanting of outsiders "We got the handshake!" combined with innocent whistling; an attempt to add comfort to a band that just signed their lives away. This is definitely an album that will continue to surprise you as a listener; whether it be hearing new musical elements each time through, or listening closely to what the singer wants you to hear, you will not be disappointed.Key tracks: "Time To Pretend", "Kids", "The Handshake"
Final Grade: 8.5/10
Pick up the album at your nearest Tower Records...wait I mean, F.Y.E....wait they're gone too, better just get it on iTunes.
-Josh
fucking rules
ReplyDelete