MGMT at Mod Club (722 College), tonight (April 29), 7 pm. $30. 416-870-8000. Sold out.
Ben Goldwasser isn’t making any bold predictions, but he knows there’s a good chance his band’s new release, Congratulations, could be considered a masterpiece sometime around the year 2020.
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MGMT’s hugely anticipated follow-up to their Oracular Spectacular debut has been met with adjectives like “difficult,” “challenging” and, perhaps the most dreaded, “hitless,” all typical signifiers of an album bound to be rediscovered and celebrated at a future date while going underappreciated in its own time.
“Maybe that’s why I’m not worried about how our album does right now,” says Goldwasser, who sings and plays keyboards alongside his MGMT partner Andrew Van Wyngarden. “I’d rather people still care about it years from now than for it to do really well now and be forgotten.”
Despite Congratulations’ hard left turn away from catchy career-making tunes like Kids or Time To Pretend and toward expansive pokes at prog, psych and Floydian complexity, it can hardly be labelled an underperformer. The Columbia release debuted at number two on Billboard, just south of teen idol juggernaut Justin Bieber.
“I’m impressed because the music we’re making right now isn’t what usually makes the top 10,” he says. “I’m sure some people are disappointed we didn’t get the number-one record. But I think it’s pretty cool.”
And for every dismissive critic – mostly in Britain, where singles are emphasized – calling the album “career suicide,” plenty are singing its praises.
“I’m glad it’s polarizing people and creating some different opinions. I would feel weird if it was a uniformly positive reaction and everyone was saying exactly the same thing.”
Besides, there’s no pleasing everyone. Case in point: at their recent high-profile set at Coachella, they performed mostly new material and skipped a favourite oldie. The audience wasn’t exactly pleased turns out the kids really wanted to hear Kids.
“I wish people wouldn’t get angry at us every time we don’t play the song,” Goldwasser says. “We don’t necessarily feel a debt to anyone to play that song at every show.
“At the same time, we’re not trying to push ourselves away from it. If they want to get angry about that instead of spending time enjoying the show, what can I do?”
Interview Clip
Ben Goldwasser of MGMT discusses getting caught off guard by the initial reaction to their new album, Congratulation.
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