I know what you’re thinking, ‘Dusty, Congratulations can’t be a deep cut; it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200,' and you know what, you’re right. Despite it only going silver, as compared to Oracular Spectacular going double platinum, Congratulations has outperformed every other MGMT album on the charts. That being the case, you would think the music would be played a little more often; however, I have never heard a person listening to a single track off this album in a public space. The album burned bright, but that also meant its flame went out far too soon. With that in mind, today we’re going to do things a little differently. Instead of the usual formula of me looking at why an album flopped, I’m going to make an argument for why this briefly popular record is now a deep cut.
Before I can get into making my point, there is a brief piece of the band's history you need to know. MGMT formed when founding members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were in college. They originally played under the name The Management, a joke about the band being independent from labels and bureaucratic managers, making Ben and Andrew the management. They mostly played parties on campus, but they weren’t opposed to dragging a synth outside and playing on the sidewalk either. During this time, the band wrote three of their biggest hits: “Kids,” “Time to Pretend,” and “Electric Feel.” These songs resonated with fellow students and eventually led to two EPs and finally a record deal with Columbia, resulting in the band's LP debut, Oracular Spectacular. MGMT felt as though this album didn’t represent them properly as a band; in fact, they had written the three wildly popular singles mentioned earlier to be as poppy as possible with the intention of sounding like sellouts. This is what led to the creation of Congratulations, an album which is much more psychedelic and art-focused than its easy-listening predecessor. It is a rejection of Oracular Spectacular and an attempt to show the world that MGMT isn’t just some airheaded synth-pop group. Personally, I love Oracular Spectacular; you better believe I have it on special edition pink vinyl, but the band wasn’t satisfied.
Alright, so now we know why Congratulations was such a stylistic shift for the band, but that still leaves us with the most burning question: how is an album that hit number two a deep cut? Congratulations did so well because of the success of the first album, plain and simple. No one was offended by the record; it got decent reviews from critics; however, many fans expressed that it wasn’t what they wanted from the band. Imagine, if you will, that it’s 2010. Spotify won’t revolutionize how we listen to music here in the States for another year. MGMT just released Congratulations. You loved the catchy hooks and haunting synths of Oracular Spectacular, so you decide to give this new album a shot. That means you’re either taking yourself down to the record store to buy a physical copy or you’re getting on a service like iTunes to buy it digitally. Either way, you’re letting loose ten bucks to hear this new record. You get home and put it on, only to find it doesn’t sound like what you were expecting. Those of you who don’t remember this era of music may not understand the rage this would incite, but I remember being so let down by new albums I had to pay money for that I threw them away. This is what happened with Congratulations. Many people bought it and listened to it, but most didn’t care for it. That brings us to today, where the album has a cult following within the fan base but is otherwise forgotten.
I have to say, I think this is a crying shame. Congratulations is an incredible album. Its only problem is that it’s possibly too difficult to chew on. Oracular Spectacular did so well because it had singles that even top 40 listeners could digest alongside songs that got into the weirder elements that would dominate Congratulations. You never know what to expect when listening to Congratulations. A fade-out could be the end of the song, or it could be a trick to get you off guard before you’re blasted with a symphony of guitars and synths that would make even the most stone-faced shed a tear. Songs bleed into each other at some parts as though they’re a single piece of music divided by nothing but titles, while at other times the shift from one song to another is like the shift from a shot of mescal to your chaser; bitter and whiplash-inducing. As sorry as I am to see this album go largely ignored, I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s a little too much for the average music fan; if you’re not a person who enjoys the violent experimentation of psychedelic music, it probably isn’t for you. If, however, you like your music to slap you around like a cat playing with a crumpled-up receipt, then this is the record for you.
In the end, it seems Congratulations' greatest flaw was that it followed Oracular Spectacular. If it hadn’t had certain expectations set up for it, I think it would have been much better received. Unfortunately, as is generally the case with deep cuts, it wasn’t quite what people wanted to hear, so it was cast aside, where the most dedicated of burnouts could enjoy it in peace.
If you haven’t had the chance to hear this one yet, then I recommend you remedy that as soon as possible. Go out and pick yourself up a copy on vinyl. Find a pitch-black room where you won’t be interrupted and listen to it straight through with headphones. If it doesn’t blow your mind, at least you’ll get to experience what buying a record you didn’t enjoy was like back in the day. Though I think you will find yourself pleasantly surprised by this album's intricate riffs and complex layout. For those of you out there with wild eyes and foaming mouths ready to rip me apart for calling this cult classic a deep cut, please direct all hate mail and death threats to my personal Gmail account. Thank you.
