(Credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images)
MGMT were always straddling their pop tendencies and their psychedelic meanderings (I mean "meanderings" in the best possible way). The combination of indelible melody and strangeness is what made songs like "Kids" and "Electric Feel," so great.
But with their most recent album, Congratulations, and the singles and videos that album has spawned ("Flash Delirium" and "It's Working") the band can be heard (and seen) hopping off the fence and fully embracing their weird side.
The duo may have reached the peak of Mount Strange with their new video for "Congratulations." The song is a totally pleasant, sun-baked folk-pop track that takes its time getting where it's going. But the video is a different animal altogether.
And I mean different animal. In the clip MGMT managers, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, wander through the desert with a beast of unknown origin. The Internet (which is always on the money with this kind of thing) has dubbed the animal a, "Duck-dog-o-saurus."
I don't know what it is about alt bands and their fascination with bizarre creatures in their videos, but this is the second clip in as many weeks to feature a freak of nature, as Yeasayer's "Madder Red" clip saw Kristen Bell mourning her "sentient pet meatwad." Kids today, I tell ya.
Check out MGMT's "Congratulations" video. Congratulations is out now.