REVIEWS
MGMT’s Little Dark Age:
The Most Popular Overlooked Album of the Year
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018 was an exceptional year for indie music. Not only did we see the release of some stellar debut records from emerging artists like Tiny Little Houses, but also impressive “comeback” records from mainstays such as mewithoutYou and Hop Along. These comebacks usually fell into one of two categories: a return-
to-form for the group that brought back fans of yesteryear, or an overhaul of the band’s sound that took them to new horizons with fruitful results. It’s strange, then, that the album that manages to fall into both of these categories went largely unrecognized for it. What album this year had singles with tens of millions of views on
YouTube, excellent chart performance, an urgently relevant message and the warmest critical reception of the group’s career, yet most people you’d ask wouldn’t even know they had an album this year? Welcome to 2018’s bizarre anomaly: MGMT’s Little Dark Age. It isn’t fair to say that MGMT made a splash in the music industry with their debut record Oracular Spectacular; it was more like a colossal, unavoidable wave. It was hard to walk 10 steps in any direction in the late 2000s without hearing the infectious synth leads of smash singles “Time to Pretend” or “Kids.” They’ve released two albums over the 11 years between their debut and Little Dark Age, and while they’ve steadily cultivated a pretty massive dedicated following, their departure from pop melodies into denser psych-rock territory alienated the fans of their debut. Not only does the duo’s record this year bring back the pop sensibilities of the past, but it also applies the intricate instrumentals they forged post-breakthrough. This not only creates a happy medium for any MGMT fan, but also an accessible entry-point for new fans. For instance, I’ve never
Album art 12
Issue Three
Photo: Brad Elterman
preston thurler
