Released: 2010

Genres: Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop

The Musiquarium’s Congratulations Review Score: 4.5/5

Oracular Spectacular was one of the most important albums of the 2000s — it predicted a lot of indie music and electro pop that would come out in the following decade, but the duo of Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser seemed to want to distance themselves from that project, having used it more as a trojan horse than a framework.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Oracular Spectacular; it still featured rich psychedelia, catchy songs and that magic Dave Fridmann touch, but it was definitely more commercial and less experimental than Congratulations; their sophomore album sounds so far removed from their debut. Instead, you will find rawer production, hints of surf rock and even some progressive elements here.

It’s Working is like a more psychedelic take on early R.E.M. Song for Dan Treacy is an ode to the frontman of post-punk band, Television Personalities. Brian Eno is another love letter, this time to the legendary producer and is a fittingly weird song. Flash Delirium finds MGMT at its strangest and most mystical. Siberian Breaks is a 12 minute, neo-psychedelic surf rock epic and perhaps MGMT’s greatest piece they’ve ever written. The album ends with the title track, which is a calming, mostly stripped back acoustic song.

While it may not possess a hit single along the likes of Kids, Time to Pretend or Electric Feel, Congratulations is still a brilliant and bold follow-up that showed that MGMT was willing to make the music they wanted to make and not the music they were expected to make. Although several fans and critics made it out to be a failure, it’s far from one.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view MGMT on Discogs.

Back to the 2010 Album Guide or the MGMT Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard