Album review: MGMT, 'Congratulations'
Before he cracked up, Syd Barrett was the driving force in Pink Floyd, merging child-like fascinations with deeper adult anxieties. It was the sound of babes marching into – and occasionally being consumed by -- the deep, dark woods. After a few short years of genius in the ‘60s, Barrett became one of the forlorn characters in his own songs, and dropped out of public view for good until his death in 2006.
That disorienting feeling permeates the second album by MGMT, “Congratulations” (Columbia), which works as both an homage to Barrett-era psychedelia and a cautionary tale about an instant pop-star life spinning out of control. The album cover depicts a cartoon character on a surf board being swallowed by a fang-baring monster of a wave, and the album brims with psychic carnage. Characters disappear, minds unravel. And yet somehow MGMT’s Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser never allow all this newfound heaviness to become oppressive. They manage to sound almost playful as their characters’ fortunes slip beneath the waves.