Indie Spotlight: MGMT

With a debut album that was in the top 100 on the US Billboard charts and as high as No. 12 in the UK, MGMT is making big waves in the music industry. And after touring with artists like M.I.A., Beck and Radiohead, they definitely deserve your attention over the Leona Lewises of the world.

The Brooklyn-based duo, made up of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, originally met at Wesleyan University and supposedly didn’t plan on forming a band. But, the music gods apparently knew the two were meant to create a new sound together. Soon after graduating, the boys sparked some interest from a few NYU students, who subsequently created record label Cantora Records just to release a debut EP from MGMT.

The EP, entitled Time to Pretend, features the early stages of the experimental rock/electronic sound they’re now known for. And, the sound was apparently innovative enough to impress the folks over at Columbia Records.

Last October, Columbia released the band’s debut major label release, titled Oracular Spectacular. The album features feel-good, upbeat singles “Electric Feel,” “Kids” and “Time to Pretend.” On “Electric Feel,” MGMT uses high-pitched singing and simple, synthesized production to get listeners to just “do what you feel now.”

With a sound that’s so new and different, MGMT forces listeners to forget classifications and just listen to some positive music that you wish you’d heard a long time ago. Prefix Magazine describes MGMT as “a college-dorm experiment gone horribly right.” Perhaps that’s all they are – but just like Penicillin, MGMT is a brilliant mistake.

Check out more from MGMT at myspace.com/mgmt.