Oracular Spectacular

On the first song on their debut record, MGMT let us know how they got here. The rock song-as-origin myth is nothing new-- from "Who Do You Love" through "Immigrant Song", to "We Share Our Mother's Health" and Kanye West's "Big Brother"-- and "Time to Pretend" situates itself in that canon. Emerging initially from a viscous electronic fluid, the song quickly takes shape as a bombastic electro-glam number about rock star dreams. Accordingly, it's cheesy an d clichéd, but also thick with sarcasm: Before the first chorus, MGMT sing nostalgically about having models for wives, moving to Paris, and shooting heroin. The kicker, though, is in the title itself. Knowing that the Almost Famous notion of stardom doesn't exist anymore (if it ever did), the duo of Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser realize they're "fated to pretend." It's a charming idea-- making a career out of fantasizing-- and on Oracular Spectacular, they not only accept their playacting destiny, they demonstrate that, just maybe, it's a path more people should take.

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