MGMT - Little Dark Age

Back in 2007, MGMT’s hedonistic call to arms ‘Time To Pretend’ declared “I’m feelin’ rough / I’m feelin’ raw / I’m in the prime of my life”. Now, on ‘When You Die’, they offer us “Go fuck yourself / You heard me right / Don’t call me nice again.” Safe to say there have been some changes. But if MGMT’s post-‘Oracular Spectacular’ career has purposefully distanced them from its sparkling space pop, long-awaited fourth LP ‘Little Dark Age’ could do with clawing a bit of that magic back. It’s the attitude that throws you. All of MGMT’s best output has a warmth to it: not just the populist early hits, but the slow smooch of ‘Congratulations’ or ‘Alien Days” wonky rollercoaster. Here, however, they mostly just sound cold. There are not one, but two tracks (‘She Works Out Too Much’ and ‘TSLAMP’) that bemoan social media and selfie culture, while the aforementioned ‘When You Die’ is venomous. It’s a shame because when they soften (‘Hand It Over’) or give in to a bit more joy (‘One Thing Left To Try’), they’re still capable of something special.