Performer Notes

Audio Mixer: Dave Fridmann.
Recording information: Baby Office, Los Angeles, CA; Kingsize Soundlabs, Los Angeles, CA; Tarbox Rood Studios, Cassadago, NY; The CRC, Brooklyn, NY.
After hitting it very big with their debut album and the song "Kids," MGMT dedicated themselves to making albums that would confuse and annoy people looking to hear more expansive, radio-friendly tunes like "Kids." Both 2010's Congratulations and 2013's self-titled record were informed by Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden's love of obscure psychedelia, oddball lyrics, and off-kilter strangeness. That they called in Sonic Boom to produce the former and Flaming Lips cohort Dave Fridmann to helm the latter says a lot about where the duo's minds resided. They weren't looking to top the charts, they wanted to do something weirder. By the time they started making their fourth album, the band had seen some changes and their record label was allegedly upset they couldn't write another "Kids." Whether it was the band's idea or the label's, Fridmann found himself teamed with a co-producer known for making radio friendly alt-pop, Chairlift's Patrick Wimberly. The result, 2018's Little Dark Age, sports a slicker sound that's easy to slot into a playlist, with restrained drums, glossy synths, and poppy melodies. This approach is offset by the band's still-present desire to be very weird, as shown by the goofy sound effects on "When You Die," the spoken word sections of "She Works Out Too Much," or the trippy vocals of "James." When they balance the two competing desires, the album comes into its own, like on "When You Die" -- which sounds like macabre and spooky indie pop lifted from Daniel Treacy's diary, then given a modern polish -- or on the huge "One Thing Left to Try," which booms like the best stadium new wave with its fat synths and an almost shouted vocal. ~ Tim Sendra

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "MGMT are back to their roots on LITTLE DARK AGE, with concise tunes built from cushy keyboard beats and cute, kiting melodies."

Spin - "MGMT are slinking back to the world of popcraft with their new album LITTLE DARK AGE, licking their wounds though nonetheless still out in the wilderness."

Entertainment Weekly - "Come for the haunted psych riffs, stay for the moody harmonies."

NME (Magazine) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Lead single `Little Dark Age' starts with doomy synth and moody, throbbing bass before blooming into its whirling, Technicolor chorus, while the tinkling, '80s-influenced `Me And Michael' is a smash that's waiting to happen."

Paste (magazine) - "[T]he album feels like it's alternately melting and lifting, warming and woozy."

Pitchfork (Website) - "They have traded the shaggy 1960s references and overstuffed arrangements for comparatively streamlined pop, and they have rediscovered their ability to write hooks."

Album: Little Dark Age
#	Song Title		Time
1)	She Works Out Too Much	More Info...
2)	Little Dark Age	More Info...
3)	When You Die	More Info...
4)	Me and Michael	More Info...
5)	TSLAMP	More Info...
6)	James	More Info...
7)	Days That Got Away	More Info...
8)	One Thing Left to Try	More Info...
9)	When You're Small	More Info...
10)	Hand It Over	More Info...

Album: Little Dark Age
#	Song Title		Time
1)	She Works Out Too Much	More Info...
2)	Little Dark Age	More Info...
3)	When You Die	More Info...
4)	Me and Michael	More Info...
5)	TSLAMP	More Info...
6)	James	More Info...
7)	Days That Got Away	More Info...
8)	One Thing Left to Try	More Info...
9)	When You're Small	More Info...
10)	Hand It Over	More Info...