Under New MGMT

words by Elliot Cole
photos by Randy Cremean

The beginning of “Time to Pretend”, the opening track of Brooklyn-based MGMT’s stellar debut album Oracular Spectacular, fashions the image of a rock star persona that would make the Tommy Lees of the world green with envy. Amid coarse guitars and fuzzy keyboards, the band sings, “I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars/You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars”. While this fusion of Scarface and Mötley Crüe is a touch of a fantasy for MGMT, the spirit of the words encapsulates the group’s core sensibilities nonetheless: make music you love, do it on your own terms, and, most importantly, have fun the entire time.