The psychedelic rock band MGMT recently released a single from their new album of the same name Little Dark Age. Though the halloween-esque cover art and music video are certainly a reminder that this duo knows how to maintain fans’ attention, this song adds yet another piece to MGMT’s growing works revolving around the idea of constructive cynicism. Their debut album Oracular Spectacular started this trend and, in retrospect, serves as a good starting point to explore the band’s unique style. And unique they are, with the use of unconventional instruments (have you heard the beginning of ‘Time to Pretend’?) and entire dreamy soundscapes (‘Siberian Breaks’), leading to a label along the lines of “pop modern psychedelic rock or something?” being the closest to an accurate descriptor of their work. This, of course, doesn’t take into account the Goth sound that they seem to be heading towards with the new album. But while their sound and style are refreshingly unique, today I want to focus on the lyrical of content of their songs. This aspect of their work is inseparably attached to their sound, but it often sends a message that is in contradiction with this sound, creating a sense of enjoyment within the listener’s mind as s/he listens to them talk about the depths of existential crises and the futility of fighting against time, among other heavy and dark themes.

The trend of cynical lyrics begins early on in MGMT’s career and is built upon and solidified with their later work. In the instant hit ‘Time to Pretend’ we get the first glimpses of this, with lyrics such as “I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars/You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars” While one may be tempted to take these lyrics as glorifying the destructive lifestyle of extravagant fame, we can see that it’s a cynical and critical exploration of such a lifestyle in later verses, an example of which is the following:

I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone But there is really nothing, nothing we can do Love must be forgotten, life can always start up new

By listing all of the things that most people agree are wonderful about life and then disregarding them so easily, the band is criticizing what the culture surrounding fame and wealth has become. In the song ‘Congratulations’ on their second album with the same name, they’ve reached this fame as a result of the success of their first album. But instead of brooding about falling into a trap they foresaw or pretending it’s not as bad as they thought, they wholeheartedly embrace the vices of their fame and put it on full critical display: “But I’ve got someone to make reports/That tell me how my money’s spent/To book my stays and draw my blinds/So I can’t tell what’s really there/And all I need’s a great big congratulations” What they’re able to do so well with these criticisms is paint a picture of a better world by describing the world around us through its flaws. The criticism never ends with a condescending straight-forward takedown of the existing problems. It’s always followed by some hint of a suggestion of what needs to be fixed. Later on in ‘Congratulations’, they go on to describe their relationship with their fans: “I’ll keep your dreams/You pay attention for me/As strange as it seems/I’d rather dissolve than have you ignore me” This passage is a means of communication with the listener that their very passive action of listening to this music is having a significant impact on the artist. By phasing out and using the music as background, the listener is depreciating the value of the music. The artists are willing to take on the implications of fame and wealth, however disabling, if the listener will pay attention to their music and collect the essence of their feelings and provide them refuge within themselves.

In their third and latest album, aptly titled MGMT, the cynicism is turned up even higher and the disappointment with life is present throughout the album. Wasting no time, they open the album with ‘Alien Days’ where they describe the expectations of human life and how little time is given to children to orient themselves in this world: “Must’ve skipped the ship and joined the team for a ride/A couple hours to learn the controls/And commandeer both my eyes/Be quick dear, times are uncertain/One month crawling, next year blurring/Decades in the drain/Monograms on the brain” This, of course, is followed soon by the positive effects of this rushed existence: “Those days taught me everything I know/How to catch a feeling/And when to let it go” In the totally-not-on-the-nose track ‘Your Life is a Lie’, we get told “Here’s the deal/open your eyes/your life is a lie”, but we’re reassured with a “Try not to cry/You’ll survive/On your own” soon after. Taking a jab at conventional dating advice, the band next tackles the search for a deep romantic connection with the song ‘Plenty of Girls in the Sea’. Here, they artfully summarize many of the best (by which I mean most annoying) pieces of advice thrown the way of single people by their friends. An example is the classic ‘looks aren’t what matter!’ which is addressed with “The lifeguard admits, his whistle in hand/That it isn’t the muscle, and it isn’t the tan/No it’s whatever you want it to be/There’s plenty of girls in the sea”. But, yet again, it’s not all bad news. What should you do if you’re stuck looking for a romantic connection and never finding it? “There’s plenty of girls in the sea/And plenty of clowns in the village/The trick is to try to be free/And tend to the void, don’t just fill it”.

By themselves, these poems are sufficient to make a strong case that this is a cynical band, but the case for why their cynicism is constructive is weak, at best, based on the lyrics alone. This is where the sound comes in. From the poppy, punchy synths of ‘Time to Pretend’ to the chill-step-like, heavily reverbed, hushed vocal sounds of Congratulations, the sound of MGMT is consistently upbeat and, in a word, happy. All of the aforementioned songs from ‘Alien Days’ are percussion heavy and use rising pitches and faster tempos as the songs proceed. These sonic elements give the music of MGMT an inspirational feel. If you are listening to these songs and don’t understand the words, you will want to get on your feet and dance, or run, or raise your fists in the air in revolt. This is where the genius of this duo lies. They want you to think hopelessly but feel inspired. They want you to be discontent with your world and yet energized enough to want to make a change. Everyone’s dating advice absolutely sucks, so go out there and write your own, and find that connection where everyone else doesn’t tell you to find it. Life has no meaning and there’s a void in your existence, so tend to it and make it something that you can wear on your sleeve and make an identity out of it. Fame and wealth leave holes in the parts of you that matter, so go fill those parts with the magic of dreams, by, I don’t know, ditching the sound that made you famous and rich and instead leading your dedicated fans to a place of deeper happiness and fulfillment. I’ve intentionally left out the band’s new single out of this piece. Little Dark Age is a fantastic song and a new chapter in MGMT’s discography that is sure to bring with it a unique perspective on the problems of existence. I have lots of ideas about the message of Little Dark Age, but I will, myself, take the advice of the band and let you interpret that message on your own. Because when they address the benefits of the alien days, they mention that they learned:

“How all the scheming, soulless creatures Can’t find dreamer’s honey in the hive If it’s right beneath the nose”

And if you’ve made it this far, fellow dreamer, you’ll have no trouble finding the honey.

Disclaimer: The above interpretations of MGMT’s work is, for the sake of this post, purely speculative. I have my reasons or believing that the things they sing mean what I think they mean, but that is beyond the scope of the post and the larger point being made here. If you’d like to discuss your own interpretations of their work, feel free to message me!