Dotoar

Ah, MGMT. What a great subject to theorize around!

First of all I should point out that whatever I may think about their approach, I definitely dig them - in parts. However, they are a prime example of a 'mainstream hipster' band, designed to cash in on the more accesible parts of the contemporary indie trends. On their first album they did it by the electro/post-punk routine of the day, and on 'Congratulations' they went down the lush, pseudo-psychedelic indie-folk path in the footsteps of bands like Fleet Foxes. Of course, nothing wrong with that as long as it yields decent music in the end, but I can't help but feel that they are little more than a bunch of college kids that happened upon a gold thread and jumped on the bandwagon to fame.

I happen to like both of their albums, although it's plain to see how they divide the fanbase due to the different soundscapes. It's always refreshing to see a band evolve and all that, but in the end I can't help but feeling they aren't sincere in what they're doing. Throwaway tracks like "Brian Eno" and "Song for Dan Treacy" are obviously not meant to be taken seriously but their overall ambition to try to cover just about any popular alternative style in the process without ending up with a truly original sound, much less expanding on their alleged influences, leads to the conclusion that their artistry isn't very deep. Definitely not as deep as the transition from "Oracular" to "Congrats" suggests on first glance. They're an obvious bait for the outskirts of the mainstream public; Easy to get into but equally easy to grow tired of.

That said, I still enjoy some of their songs, like "Electric feel", "Weekend wars", "Someone's missing" and "Siberian breaks". I prefer the aforementioned Passion Pit though, since they have better written songs and are much more concistent.

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