MGMT Goes Retro: “Flash Delirium”

“Kids” fans: good luck humming this one incessantly. Go ahead and try.

“Flash Delirium,” our first taste of MGMT’s upcoming Congratulations, is available now on the band’s website. I’m not sure how I feel about this one. It’s retro, clever, and slightly schizophrenic in a distinctly White Album sort of way (see: “Happiness is a Warm Gun”), but maybe too . . .  ironic? Smugly detached? Something about those nifty ’50s doo-wop flourishes seem to preclude any real sincerity. But maybe it’s just the dry-as-fuck production (and from Spacemen 3’s Peter Kember, of all people) that irks me.

Thoughts?

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54 thoughts on “MGMT Goes Retro: “Flash Delirium””

  1. anon

    fuck all yall ironically hating on mgmt. this song is the shit. trippy in a clever way. i hope the new album has a lot of stuff like this.

  2. anon

    fuck all yall ironically hating on mgmt. this song is the shit. trippy in a clever way. i hope the new album has a lot of stuff like this.

  5. Anonymous

    I actually really like this I really do, i don’t know why people are so eager to be devil’s advocates

  6. Anonymous

    I actually really like this I really do, i don’t know why people are so eager to be devil’s advocates

  11. klfajhsdfasdf

    I also think people should stop posting on Wesleying every time MGMT lifts a finger. They don’t go to this school anymore, they haven’t for quite some time. I don’t think this is relevant Wesleyan news anymore.

    I would understand if it was some low-key not very popular alumni band that people wanted to hear updates on but couldn’t get that info anywhere but Wesleying.

    But the fact is that 20,000 other blogs posted this new MGMT song, 20,000 other blogs reported the album art when it came out. It’s not like it’s hard to find updates on MGMT if you want it.

  12. klfajhsdfasdf

    I also think people should stop posting on Wesleying every time MGMT lifts a finger. They don’t go to this school anymore, they haven’t for quite some time. I don’t think this is relevant Wesleyan news anymore.

    I would understand if it was some low-key not very popular alumni band that people wanted to hear updates on but couldn’t get that info anywhere but Wesleying.

    But the fact is that 20,000 other blogs posted this new MGMT song, 20,000 other blogs reported the album art when it came out. It’s not like it’s hard to find updates on MGMT if you want it.

  13. klfajhsdfasdf

    I really don’t think they are being ironic, I think they just like this kind of music.

    In every interview I have read with them about this upcoming album they have said that they are done being ironic and just want to make a fully sincere album.

    Just because something is weird and scans multiple genre’s doesn’t mean it’s ironic.

  14. klfajhsdfasdf

    I really don’t think they are being ironic, I think they just like this kind of music.

    In every interview I have read with them about this upcoming album they have said that they are done being ironic and just want to make a fully sincere album.

    Just because something is weird and scans multiple genre’s doesn’t mean it’s ironic.

  17. isaac

    @ #14:

    you’re right. your subjective deeming of the song as “fine” is way more reasonable than all the other subjective opinions on this thread. thanks so much!

    “If you don’t like it, there are people who do.” indeed, 14. and they have just as much right to write on online comment threads as those who don’t like the song.

  18. isaac

    @ #14:

    you’re right. your subjective deeming of the song as “fine” is way more reasonable than all the other subjective opinions on this thread. thanks so much!

    “If you don’t like it, there are people who do.” indeed, 14. and they have just as much right to write on online comment threads as those who don’t like the song.

  19. MC Hall

    #3 / ++++: First of all, the posts are written by individual writers, so it doesn’t really make sense to talk about Wesleying as a collective. Some of us read Pitchfork, I’m sure. I can’t speak for Zach and I don’t know about this post specifically, but usually the music-related posts I write are based on readers’ tips. I read stuff about MGMT, Bear Hands, Das Racist, etc all the time on Pitchfork and various other music blogs, but usually it won’t make it to Wesleying under my name unless it ends up in the comments, the shoutbox, or our inbox. That said, you’re right that we should full give credit to all our sources, so thanks for the reminder.

  20. MC Hall

    #3 / ++++: First of all, the posts are written by individual writers, so it doesn’t really make sense to talk about Wesleying as a collective. Some of us read Pitchfork, I’m sure. I can’t speak for Zach and I don’t know about this post specifically, but usually the music-related posts I write are based on readers’ tips. I read stuff about MGMT, Bear Hands, Das Racist, etc all the time on Pitchfork and various other music blogs, but usually it won’t make it to Wesleying under my name unless it ends up in the comments, the shoutbox, or our inbox. That said, you’re right that we should full give credit to all our sources, so thanks for the reminder.

  23. anon

    Voice of reason: it’s fine. If you don’t like it, there are people who do. I personally like the song. Kudos to Wesleyan grads for making music successfully and trying new things.

  24. anon

    Voice of reason: it’s fine. If you don’t like it, there are people who do. I personally like the song. Kudos to Wesleyan grads for making music successfully and trying new things.

  27. anon

    #10 – they’ve taken being ‘ironic’ to a whole new level. this is lame as hell and they now come off as total douche bags, or is that their whole plan because they’re being “ironic”. i swear to god, this irony shit gets so out of hand that it begins to contradict itself.

  28. anon

    #10 – they’ve taken being ‘ironic’ to a whole new level. this is lame as hell and they now come off as total douche bags, or is that their whole plan because they’re being “ironic”. i swear to god, this irony shit gets so out of hand that it begins to contradict itself.

  29. John

    “It’s retro, clever, and slightly schizophrenic in a distinctly White Album sort of way (see: “Happiness is a Warm Gun”)”

    *Throws up in mouth*

    *Continues to spew all over laptop screen and keyboard*

  30. John

    “It’s retro, clever, and slightly schizophrenic in a distinctly White Album sort of way (see: “Happiness is a Warm Gun”)”

    *Throws up in mouth*

    *Continues to spew all over laptop screen and keyboard*

  33. Drew

    sounds good to me… Better than the other stuff I’ve heard from the new album, and an interesting departure

  34. Drew

    sounds good to me… Better than the other stuff I’ve heard from the new album, and an interesting departure

  43. the game

    Why are you comparing this shit to The Beatles? That’s like comparing the poop stains in my toilet to da Vinci.

  44. the game

    Why are you comparing this shit to The Beatles? That’s like comparing the poop stains in my toilet to da Vinci.

  45. ++++

    I am irked by how Wesleying seemingly reads Pitchfork, yet is reluctant to give them full credit most of the time when re-posting their news. I could be totally wrong about your sources, but if you get a lot of your music news (about MGMT or whoever else) from P4k, then link to the relevant P4K article. There’s no shame in it. Here, you backhandedly give P4k more credit than usual, by linking to one of their files, but that’s still not full credit.
    Again, I could be wrong, but this and many other music related posts seem to be direct descendants of P4k’s news, yet present themselves as if they weren’t.

  46. ++++

    I am irked by how Wesleying seemingly reads Pitchfork, yet is reluctant to give them full credit most of the time when re-posting their news. I could be totally wrong about your sources, but if you get a lot of your music news (about MGMT or whoever else) from P4k, then link to the relevant P4K article. There’s no shame in it. Here, you backhandedly give P4k more credit than usual, by linking to one of their files, but that’s still not full credit.
    Again, I could be wrong, but this and many other music related posts seem to be direct descendants of P4k’s news, yet present themselves as if they weren’t.

  48. anon

    i think it’s pretty good. i like the direction they’re moving in instead of making another fun dance album.

  50. anon

    i think it’s pretty good. i like the direction they’re moving in instead of making another fun dance album.

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