‘Time to Pretend’ - MGMT, 2008
A mate of mine recently got into this song and declared it to be ‘the song for summer 2008′. I remember watching the Jools Holland show a few months back and, in between the portly Jools swanning around and fawning over relics from the ’60’s, they let MGMT play this song. I hadn’t heard of MGMT, and I was very impressed. I guess ‘blown away’ is an over-used phrase these days, so I won’t say ‘blown away’. But very impressed.
MGMT seem to be like America’s answer to Klaxons. Both groups have a similar feel for a really good melody, neither are afraid to be ‘poppy’, they both dress in ridiculous clothes, and much of their lyrics dwell on the ephemeral, intangible energy of youth. Well, truth be told, most of their lyrics I can’t understand. But ‘Time to Pretend’ is fairly self-explanatory:
“Let’s move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars/
Give me the islands and the cocaine and the elegant cars.”
‘Time to Pretend’ is about a group of youngsters who don’t want to get caught in the “morning commute”, they want to get rich through music and do the whole live-fast-die-young cliche. I’m not sure if they’re being ironic or being “oh hell, let’s just do it”. Remember, kids, that path will only ever lead to you resembling Johnny Thunders’ more haggard brother - no, that’s not a good thing.
Anyway, enough of that. ‘Time to Pretend’ is a great epic song, and here’s the official video for it. Their album, Oracular Spectacular, is well worth a listen.
Last 5 posts by Dave
- 'New Generation' - Suede, 1994 - January 6th, 2009
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- 'Brilliant Mistake' - Elvis Costello, 1986 - December 16th, 2008
- 'Icky Thump' - The White Stripes, 2007 - December 11th, 2008
- 'Careering' - Public Image Limited, 1979 - December 10th, 2008
