MGMT - Little Dark Age

[alan nagsworth]

The Aussie psych pop lads have a new album, Little Dark Age, which is out next month. I'm very excited.

They're quite like Yeasayer to me, in that they can be quite hit and miss. However, unlike Yeasayer, they are definitely more hit than miss. Their first album Oracular Spectacular had some big pop sensibilities, especially in the singles, which are decent tunes but don't thrill me as much as they did at the time. But it's on tracks like Weekend Wars where you could really see their potential, which was wonderfully realised on second album Congratulations, a bloody great piece of work which holds up as the high water mark of their career, particularly in light of their underwhelming self-titled third album.

HOWEVER! Two of the three singles released thus far for Little Dark Age have been absolute crackers (and the third is still decent) and I'm thoroughly back on board again. The video for the eponymous single has got Connan Mockasin in it! Hooray!

The new songs, then, in order of greatness:
Little Dark Age
When You Die
Hand It Over

[Paaaaul]

I just listened to Little Dark Age and it made me stoned.

Aussie? Huh?

[mobias]

They're about as Australian as Fosters Larger.

[Bazooka]

Must be thinking of Empire of The Sun.

[ArtParrott]

I started a brief thread back in October when Little Dark Age first appeared - https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=63069.0

Ignore my first post now, as Little Dark Age has really grown on me since then. Albums out Feb. 9th btw

[alan nagsworth]

Haha wow, I have literally gone their entire career thinking they were Australian. Nowt to do with Empire of the fucking piece of shit Sun.

[itsfredtitmus]

faux cassette cover
is their next album cover going to have a fake vinyl ring on it?

[Johnny Textface]

They are a bit similar to Tame Impala if that helps you reconcile this?

One for the terrible album covers thread?

[PaulTMA]

Have MGMT ever commented on the existence Empire Of The Sun?  They are basically their Wheatus.

[Johnny Textface]

This is out now and makes me very happy.

[alan nagsworth]

i'm gonna get around to listening to it soon, but right now i'm eating sweets and listening to "live through this" by hole in bed in my pants and not giving a FUCK. but i am really excited to hear it

[PaulTMA]

It's great, sounds like a different band altogether.  Huge bounceback after the largely tuneless third album.

[PaulTMA]

I'm so on board with this album.

Video for 'Me And Michael' is genius:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTHHeIAYfuU

And then there's this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zK_m6EgVSQ

[Dr Syntax Head]

The pound shop Rapture

[alan nagsworth]

The pound shop Rapture

don't talk rubbish. yes the rapture were very good but they peaked with echoes and everything else they did was dog shite

[alan nagsworth]

Yo, this album is really good! There's a wee bit of fluff (the song Me and Michael is actually complete middle of the road synth pop toss and it's funny that Empire of the Sun got mentioned in this thread because this song sounds like something they'd end up farting out) but on the whole there's a lot to enjoy here. The amusingly energetic bop of anti-exercise anthem She Works Out Too Much, the extremely Ween-esque pitched up guitar solo on the wonderfully woozy TSLAMP, the extended outro jam of Days That Got Away, and that's not even taking into account the two lead singles, which are both fucking excellent.

They've done a great job of mixing the pop shimmer of Oracular Spectacular and the prog/experimental leanings of Congratulations into a what is a very rewarding listen - I'm on my third spin of this album already today and am finding myself taken in by bits I'd not clocked before. I've already mentioned Ween, but this certainly is a pretty brown album. I'm also getting hints of Ariel Pink (on James) and King Gizzard, which proves they've managed to up their game to ride the wave with today's modern psych-pop high-rollers, but still putting out a record that sounds distinctly like that great MGMT sound of their first two albums. I'm very impressed with this.

[itsfredtitmus]

i love supertramp, me