Hot Band of 2008: MGMT

The new CD by NYC-based psychedelic pop-electronic outfit, MGMT, is my favorite album of the year so far. That lofty classification puts it in the company of exactly one other CD, Opeth’s Watershed,, which is just insane. To me, MGMT sound like what might happen if “Waiting On A Friend”-era Mick Jagger teamed up with Beck. The songs, oh yes, they are so good, and the album is produced by Mercury Rev’s Dave Fridmann, so you know it sounds amazing. I’ve been listening to Oracular Spectacular all morning and I’m not even close to being sick of it. Every song on the CD is great but I’m particularly fond of the single, “Time to Pretend”; a combination ode to/indictment of the Rock Star Lifestyle that praises/slams everyone from Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix to members of Duran Duran. Check out the lyrics:

“I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life.
Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah, it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We’re fated to pretend

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
Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There’s really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we’ll get a divorce
We’ll find some more models, everything must run its course.

We’ll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend”

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