SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MGMT – LOSS OF LIFE

MGMT
LOSS OF LIFE
MOM+POP MUSIC

In 2018, MGMT released Little Dark Age which became an instant hit, with many noting it was their best record since their debut and its title track was trending on TikTok. Then, in 2023, “Time to Pretend” was featured in the film Saltburn, resulting in the song becoming super popular again. With their resurgence in popularity in the past couple of years, Loss of Life has become one of the year’s most anticipated records. Unfortunately, it ends up being highly disappointing.

The two highlights of the record are “Dancing In Babylon” (featuring Christine and the Queens) and “Bubblegum Dog”. The former is very electrifying. It has some unusual and ambient synth beats and tremendous vocals and feels like a mix between a ballad and a club/dance song. MGMT and Christine and the Queens need to collaborate again as soon as possible. The latter displays their ability to combine pop and psychedelia the best and also feels like a mashup of glam rock, Ween, The The, and MGMT. Instrumentally, it is probably the weirdest from the album, as tons of strange sounds and different styles are coming together. Lyrically, MGMT is fully embracing its goofy side and will make you constantly wonder what the heck a bubblegum dog is. It also has an insane and kinetic garage rock guitar solo that freaking rocks. Overall, the song is incredibly delightful. Besides these two tracks, everything else is underwhelming, considering what MGMT is capable of.

All the tracks have something going for them, even if it is brief. None are complete misfires. “I Wish I Was Joking” has a quite memorable chorus, but the track as a whole is pretty average and not that interesting. “People In The Streets” is tedious to get through as it is incredibly slow, and the instrumentation is too repetitive. However, it does have a pretty spectacular synth solo towards the end of the song. There is not enough excitement or momentum for the song to be as long as it is. “Nothing Changes” has a length and quality problem. It starts with a combination of shoegaze and dream pop that feels very imitative of so many 90s songs and ends up feeling generic. The second half of the track severely overshadows the first half. All the best things about MGMT come together in the second half.

Another problem with the album is that the more experimental songs never get strange or wild enough, and the more accessible ones are not nearly as memorable as other songs in their catalogue. Nothing reaches the absurdity or wackiness of their album MGMT. If some tracks got more bizarre, they would have been much more entertaining. Alternatively, there is a lack of crowd-pleasing songs with catchy melodies that will have you singing along to like “Time to Pretend”, “Kids”, or “Little Dark Age”.

Loss of Life ends up being average, with only a couple of noteworthy songs.

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