It has been three years since MGMT graced us with its electro-pop presence, and “Oracular Spectacular” transformed the daily monotony of fifth period playing over the linoleum-checkered floors of public high school. The album gave the fluorescent lull of mundane daily schedules an electric feel.
Duo Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser dropped its third, self-titled (because it is never too late for an introduction) album Tuesday, and oh baby, does it lack that electric feel. The album displays a strange, other-worldly, watered-down electricity, beginning with the first track, “Alien Days.”
MGMT established itself as a forerunner in the synthpop genre in 2007, and with no competition, “Oracular Spectacular” spiraled to the top of the charts.
Now, six years later, the likes of Passion Pit and Broken Bells give MGMT a run for their money. MGMT’s psychedelic vibes and synthetic beats prevail, but the lyrical depth vacant from 2010’s “Congratulations” is still absent on “MGMT.” The album is on beat, but it is a debut into a world overtaken by electronic dance music (EDM). It now takes more than a groove to keep one’s album pulsating to the top of the charts.
The band’s freshman album contained a lyrical depth comparable to the likes of Vampire Weekend. MGMT penned the unifying anxieties felt by millennials’ transitioning into adulthood amid a failing economy and financial woes. While “Oracular Spectacular” thrilled us and “Congratulations” bored us, “MGMT” is, sadly, spectacularly forgettable. The duo who pulled us onto dance floors with “Electric Feel,” effortlessly convincing even the introverted hermit to the bust a move, has turned out the lights, shut down the party and lulls all to sleep with psychedelic lullabies from a band perpetually trapped in a sophomore slump.