SLOW BURN: MGMT's second album, <i>Congratulations</i>, has gradually won over the critics. Photo / Supplied
After a wander in the wilderness, MGMT are out front and set to impress, writes Paula Yeoman.
An apologetic Ben Goldwasser from MGMT has a confession to make.
When the American band was here in 2009, it was nearing the end of an exhausting world tour. And so its three sold-out performances in Auckland may not have been up to scratch.
But the singer/guitarist is promising big
improvements when MGMT returns next month. Not only is the Brooklyn-based band well-rested, its members are much happier, thanks to second album Congratulations.
At first the record was panned by critics, who claimed its slow-burning, quirky qualities were a dramatic stylistic departure and a back-turn on a generation of psychedelic popsters who'd fallen in love with MGMT because of dance floor-fillers such as Electric Feel.
"It wasn't what people were expecting," says Falwasser, who admits he's still irked by the criticism. "It's silly for people to think that something different is a departure."
Nevertheless, the band took the feedback on the chin and dealt with it by playing the hell out of Congratulations live. And it seems to have worked.
You'll now find MGMT fan sites referring to the early reviews as "premature evaluation", and the shows keep selling out.
"The reaction to it is a lot more positive now," says Goldwasser, who sees this as justification for the band's desire to stay true to itself, rather than making music to satisfy a trend.
It has, in turn, helped MGMT to find its comfort zone.
"In a way we became very self-conscious," Goldwasser says of their response to their rapid rise to fame.
"But the biggest part of it was that we didn't feel like people understood what we were about. We were seen as poster boys for some sort of hipster/electro movement, which we didn't feel like we were a part of."
That's not to say MGMT won't be delving into its back catalogue at the upcoming gigs. Goldwasser gets as much pleasure out of playing the old songs as he does the new.
And what's most exciting is that Kiwi crowds will finally get to see what the band is really about.
*MGMT play at the Logan Campbell Centre on March 17 and the Hunter Lounge, Victoria University, Wellington on March 19.
-Herald On Sunday / View
