Album Review: MGMT - Little Dark Age

MGMT kind of left the hipsters behind when they allowed the darker and more psychedelic elements of their work replace the instantly gratuitous pop melodies of tunes like Time To Pretend.

While the psychedelics took them to strange, freaked out proggy places many have yearned for the pop confection of their debut. Their latest drops the prog and takes more direct inspiration from all the various shades of '80s synth pop that reflected the gloom of Thatcher's Britain. In thinking about our current trials and tribulations, it is a nice point of comparison that provides the lads with an excuse to try on a little black eyeliner and embrace a goth shade of black. Andrew VanWyngarden sings of heartache, desolation, failure, loneliness and death. It would be bleak but the synths are lush and melodic, rolling like early Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Human League, PSB and even Numan. The moody posturing histrionics are balanced by buoyant beats. The vibe is bittersweet, sad but not despairing.

Confronting bleak realities isn't necessarily going to drag the lads down. It's been a long time since MGMT have been this accessible.