Tuesday, March 30, 2010

What's up with MGMT and surfing?




A couple years ago I posted a link to the MGMT video for "Time to Pretend," which featured the lead singer surfing on green screen ala Frankie Avalon (with decent drop-knee style). I think we can all agree that was a pretty great album. Now that the newest release by these debauched Brooklynites has officially leaked, like a surfboard with an unknown gash in the glass, it raises the proverbial eyebrows again to see all kinds of surf imagery in the mix. The album cover has a crazy Sonic-the-Hedgehog-like fox, throwing double shakas under the curl of a menacing wave shaped like his own head. Trippy.

In a recent interview with Spin, MGMT member Andrew Vanwyngarden talked story about the new album: “There’s a surfing thread throughout the record,” he said. “When you’re surfing, there’s a specific break you’re paddling to. And when the waves are really good you say, ‘It’s working.’ The song ["It's Working"] kind of has a surf-y vibe. It’s like surfing on ecstasy!”

Surfing on ecstasy? Seems like a lot of bands are taking to the wild waves with their influences lately. I've asked this before, but is this a coincidence? Are we headed to an era of Gidget-esque surf worship similar to the '60s? Are we already in the middle of it? Does it even matter?

As I write this, the album is playing in the background and it's totally tubular.

Check it for yourself. You can stream the whole new MGMT album, Congratulations, at NPR.org's First Listen.

Friday, March 19, 2010

TO DO A DULL THING WITH STYLE IS PREFERABLE TO DOING A DANGEROUS THING WITHOUT IT. —CHARLES BUKOWSKI