MGMT’s Little Dark Age

Andrew VanWyngarden /photo by Al Pereira

With their first album in over four years, which was partially recorded in Brooklyn, and where one half of the duo now lives, MGMT moves away from the experimental sound of their previous two releases, which left many fans and critics cold on the band’s future. Their 2007 debut, Oracular Spectacular, made them indie darlings and was filled with catchy hits that flooded radio, commercials and TV.

The duo started making music in their college dorm room at Wesleyan College in Connecticut and in recent interviews; they talk about how the approach to this album was similar to when they first began making music together, focusing on songwriting and structure.

While Little Dark Age doesn’t have the same stand out radio singles, the band returns to creating well-crafted songs with their signature synth heavy beats. ‘Days That Got Away’ is a Dark Side era Pink Floyd interlude that encapsulates the bands new direction towards more of a subdued and memorizing soundscape, while still remaining accessible to the casual listener looking for the MGMT of earlier days.

The current cultural climate also creeps into the album. The first single off the album, also titled ‘Little Dark Age’, and ‘TSLAMP’, short for ‘Time Spent Looking at My Phone’, are psychedelic comments on our current obsession with wasting time on our various devices.

Little Dark Age successfully reminds us of MGMT’s skill at crafting an indie record and with this latest effort; they give good reason to return to a band you might have once left for being too cool.