What MGMT’s forthcoming album definitely won’t have: a “Kids” or a “Time To Pretend,” according to Ben Goldwasseer. Instead, you should expect recording by ex-Spacemen 3 member Pete Kember, mixing by David Fridmann, vocals from charismatically disengaged Royal Trux vocalist Jennifer Herrema, and a Sonic The Surfhog vibed cover art scheme designed by Ausgang. I want this on my Trapper Keeper. Does that entice you to preorder? What if we told you it came with a scratch-off cover with custom metal coin? Not bad. (Also whuuut?) Personally I’d prefer a DVD compiling the highlights of every awkward red carpet interview they did at the Grammys. Or just the one conducted by Giuliana Rancic on loop. Congratulations is out 4/13 via Sony/Columbia.
You Might Also Like
 Watch MGMT Debut “Alien Days” In Colombia |  Trent Reznor, MGMT Oppose SOPA/PIPA In Letter To Congress |  Beavis & Butt-head Mock MGMT Again |  MGMT – “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” Video |
 |
 |
%s1 / %s2
Noooooooooooooooooooooo.
CLASSIC ACID
I was instantly reminded of Apollo 440′s “Dude Descending a Staircase” album cover, and then realized that they were both done by the same person.
I don’t if I dig this cover or not. Very early nineties.
dear mgmt,
you do know that “kids” and “time to pretend” were the best things about your last album, right? you do? okay, just making sure. thanks for taking a giant shit in my face by trying to be more obscure and artsy instead of bringing the jams. three words for you: go fuck yourselves.
all the best,
tommy
calm down.
They should keep making the same music, right? Who needs progression or new musical endeavors — that might offend somebody! Some words for you: Fans like you hold bands back.
frankly MGMT are not worth getting so upset over. an adequate (and probably standard) response would be: you are shooting yourselves in the collective foot. have fun riding out your sophomore slump.
It’s not like your mp3 files of Oracular Spectacular don’t play anymore.
this would’ve been a lot more biting had you heard the record before making the statement.
kids and time to pretend are the worst mgmt song simply because its to electronic pop listen to real music like there new album was alot better than OS because the where rocking out expressing themself like true artist instead of trying to make shity radio hits.
I kind of hate it when bands neglect the sound that made them popular on the sophomore album. It’s too soon to be doing a 180 on your sound, especially since we’re still trying to get to know your sound anyway. Then again, I haven’t heard anything from the new album nor do I know much about the “new” sound, so I’ll just have to wait and hear before I form an opinion.
But MGMT, look at Franz Ferdinand, the Killers and the Bravery. All less than stellar sophomores. Learn it, don’t live it.
lol Dude thats funny. Pretty sure these guys were ripped out of theyre mind when they approved this.
Cant stop looking at it, its like a fucking magic eye, I waiting for something else to pop up
is this a indie band?
best comment ever
Agreed.
using Ausgang? oh god. i can just image the art department meeting with the band. hey dudes, we know you loved recording in Malibu, how about a surfer on a wave. i think some Rick Griffin licensed image wouldve been cooler
Anyone have the interview with Guiliana from the Grammys he’s talking about?
just accept it MGMT is good. Of moons birds and monsters = fuck yeah
I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: I love this album cover. There.
Here is the link for the E! video:
http://s562.photobucket.com/albums/ss69/flaminglips515/?action=view¤t=MGMTonE.flv
Here is one foreshadowing their new CD:
http://celebrifi.com/gossip/MGMT-doesnt-give-a-fuck-during-interview-1491868.html
And here is one with TV Guide (My favorite because of the cutthroat tension):
http://www.gawkk.com/grammys-2010-mgmt/discuss
I promise you that they weren’t on drugs/I can’t wait for Congratulations.
aww I think you’re cool, man
gets me everytime
it reminds me of the felix the cat movie, from when i was a kid. maybe the album will sound like that too. that would be cool.
It looks like a poster that should be hanging inside The Max on Saved by the Bell
It would look better if it were just the background design, frankly. I love the comments about the “new” sound sucking even though we haven’t heard it yet.
Music fans are funny.
Fuck this band. Fuck Yeasayer. Fuck this nu-primitive/half-ironic-80s/hipster/american apparel/adam ant bullshit. Let’s try a little sincerity for God’s sake.
When’s the National record coming out?
GRR I HATE FUN
you do know you’re on Stereogum right?
I remember back in the day when it was cool to hate things that were popular. But then hating popular things became too popular to do that. So I hate it.
When did it become so cool to hate “hipsters”? Has the collective “hipster” community wronged people so much that we feel obligated to hate on them in a music blog?
Also, I’ve never thought of Yeasayer as anything but sincere. Reset.
RESET, yes please
everybody misses the point every time. i dont hate hipsters. i dont hate “cool” things. i dont hate fun. i hate this dumb album cover. what a joke. i cant take a band seriously if this is what they come up with. i liked their first record a lot (same with yeasayer), havent heard this one yet. hope it’s good.
people shouldnt be so defensive about such a dumb album cover. yikes.
Yeah, because The National don’t have *any* songs with a dose of irony.
these guys are fun…to throw hard objects at.
this just looks tacky.
You know what would be cool? If alot of bands started hopping on some surf tune-influenced, 80′s nostalgia asthetic trend bandwagon and most of their music was contrived, dismissable flavor of the week drivel.
What’s that you say? This happened already??
-Curious but Cautious for New MGMT
oh you’ve heard the new album already?
tell us about it!
It sounds a lot like Pip farting on a snare drum.
“I ain’t fartin’ on no snare drum.”- Pip
i read about one of the dudes from MGMT saying it is surf influenced and i guess this cover is ’80′s nostalgia (maybe more like 90s)…so…we’ll see?
Yikes.
I’m so over MGMT. I’m more into JNTR.
who cares? it’s cute! and fun! i hope this cd is more consistent than the last one!
That’s what we all said about the last Weezer album and look how well that turned out…
looks l tom & jerry or itchy & scratchy inspired to me… or felix the cat inspired maybe? hmm
It would be mildly better if it didn’t have the surfing cat.
Yay, Freaking out surfer Cat riding a cat wave, genius.
Whats an album cover?
hahaha
I don’t know how to break this to all of you but hating MGMT and saying that their music is garbage doesn’t make you any less of a hipster.
If you really think MGMT sucks then you do NOT know a single thing about music.
You could argue that these “arguments” on Stereogum are tired, but I just know that if Pitchfork had a comments section, the discussions about what is good and who is cool would be way more annoying.
it’s finally gotten to the point on stereogum where i cant tell who is being ironic and who isnt. this included mgmt.
Anthony Ausgang did a lot of very similar artwork for Sonic Boom’s E.A.R. project back in the day. I’m sorta surprised not a single music website news editor googled that shit and made the connection…
I agree with Arne! Music editors tend to suck in the research area. Check the records, folks!
Oh- and Sonic Boom fucking rules!!! Mad genius
I can’t imagine that this will sound completely different from their debut. And if it is different, *gasp* how terrible! Nothing wrong with a band experimenting with new sounds or styles.
Also, you people need to chill the hell out. It’s an album cover, for christ’s sake.
cant wait for the new album. as much as i love ‘time to pretend’ and ‘kids’, 2 years on from their debut, the only songs i can really listen to now are the likes of ‘of moons, birds and monsters” and ’4th dimension transitional’. these are much more interesting songs (if slightly less catchy) and im glad the new album will follow this route. Go MGMT
Liam Gallagher: “if you like it, buy it. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. I don’t give a shit.”
^ people need to take some advice from this dude
liam gallagher is a dipshit.
Dear person who posted somewhere below,
“Time to Pretend” and “Kids” were hardly the best songs on the album.
“The Handshake”, hello? “Future Reflections”? Did you just ignore the entire second half? AKA the better half?
Personally, I really dig the artwork, shits groovy. And judging by their previous foray into 10+ minute songs (“Metanoia”) this shit should be insanely goodl
Simpsons did it. Homer as Poochie bitches
i’m excited for their new tunes, but fucking hell that is one ugly album cover
Even though they’re gonna be mixing it up, you’re insane if you’re not excited.
http://cigarettesandludes.wordpress.com/
He’s right.
Theres ussually a pattern to how these things are posted. They show the album art, and then following a new song. So, i’ll just hang back until i hear a new song. Does anybody know of anything thats leaked out yet?New Song?
That pallet definitely reminds me of my Trapper Keeper circa ’89.
haha! I used to have one of those! Those things were awesome.
this better be as good as the last Sonic the Hedgehog
I hope to god that you’re referring to Sonic & Knuckles.
Manic Hedgehog.
That’s stupid.
i like it (the cover).
i’m quite a fan of this cover art! i cannot wait for the new album <3
I like this cover art. Its a little goofy, but I like it more then the first album’s We Are the Messiahs look. Not only do I like this cover art, I like what I’m hearing about the album. So what if its not a rehash of their first album, why is that necessarily bad? A retread of “Kids” over and over is really what would have been preferred? And also, so what if they’re shallow? I like Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, etc but it would be so boring to only listen to serious-face/arty bands just to satisfy some illusion of “depth”. Plenty of great music has been made that could be accused of being insincere, and yet its appreciated just as much as supposed sincerity is
thats stupid
I love indie music and I don’t need to play the name-drop game of the coolest bands of the moment. I don’t worry about indie bands selling out or going pop. These are artists and their art takes them where it takes them. If that place happens to be the top of the pop chart, then it just becomes pop-art.
I really just wanted to say that “Time to Pretend” is one of the greatest songs of all time imho. It’s been in top rotation in my iPod for forever now, and I still enjoy singing along like a dufus as loud as I can.
Fuck MGMT.
Take it as you will.
I take it as you want to fuck MGMT
i just noticed the wave is like another animal
Um yo is these cats crazy?
I’ll just come right out and say it: I really can’t stand MGMT. Their only good songs are “Electric Feel” and “Kids.” “Time to Pretend” is fucking obnoxious, and the keyboard from the intro rips off the keyboard from the intro of Styrofoam’s Just Like the 80s Never Happened Mix of “The Postman” by American Analog Set. The rest of their album sounds like they’re trying too hard to be a 70s British glam act. The vocals on “The Youth,” in particular, sound like he’s trying way too hard to be Bowie.
In summation: Fuck MGMT. I agree with Capers.
It’s really no big deal, you don’t need to rant about how bad they are, some people just want to enjoy the music, just don’t listen to it.
You could have just saved us the trouble and said “they sold too many records for me to like them”. Your predetermined taste bores us.
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery-celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from-it’s where you take them to.”
-Jim Jarmusch
These kids are awesome, in every sense of the word.
this is some ugly shit. some ugly 1990-ish shit at that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcwQUjFuGGY
I am so excited for “Congratulations.” its going to be the best album of the year hands down and there are already some great albums out. I really don’t like the album art though, but thats alright, it won’t affect the music.
This cover is shit.
Looks like the cover of a 90′s Ska album. Aiming for ironic sense of humor?
meh, they need to lay off the acid and cartoons.