MGMT’s last album Congratulations was my favorite album of 2010. Back then I admired the fearlessness of MGMT casting off the electro-pop shackles of their first album and delving into psychedlia. On album no. 3, MGMT has gone off the deep-end and can barely keep afloat. MGMT has become an incomprehensible mess of beeps and buzzes on their self-titled third album and entered a psychedelic nightmare. This album is nothing but unintelligible melodies sandwiched between lumbering rhythms and too much overproduction. After awhile you start to wonder how some of these even began as songs. That’s not to say there aren’t brief reminders of why this band became popular in the first place, but be prepared to work for it.

The album opens with “Alien Days”, featuring a trippy duet between frontman Andrew VanWyngarden and a young boy straight from The Village of the Damned. This decision sets up an album of promising youthful whimsy and fantastical exploration. “Alien Days” may try to cram in more ideas than it needs but it’s passable, it’s what’s after that troubles me. I don’t know that anything on MGMT is offensively bad, just boring. So many “songs” (and I use the word lightly) just plod along, never building to anything worthwhile. I remember when I said MGMT was the new Flaming Lips. Funny, because both of these once avant-garde pop bands have now descended into psychedelic white noise. Just look to the Flaming Lip’s album “The Terror” released earlier this year. The Lips earned their weirdness with a career’s worth of quality work. MGMT just sounds like they’re trolling everybody.

Thank god there’s at least one song, one needle of hope in this haystack of dispair. I like the song “Plenty of Girls in the Girl”. After “Alien Days” it’s the only song I feel that captures the whimsy MGMT should’ve tried to explore more thoroughly. It’s a bit off-the-wall (big surprise), but at least it’s optimistic. Remember when this band was fun? “Time to Pretend” and “Kids” were catchy radio darlings, but everything on this album feels like a big, “Fuck You!” That’s how I feel as a fan, alienated. I don’t know what I want from this band at this point and wonder how much longer I’m going to care.

Favorite Tracks: “Alien Days,” “Plenty of Girls in the Sea,”

Apparently 2010 was a pretty awesome year for music, since I can remember Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid coming out and critics being pretty enthusiastic about it.  And yet, for some reason I figured I could just let this one pass me by, despite Monae’s music being the exact kind of amalgam of retro R&B sounds that usually make me proclaim, “I can dig it”.  But nonetheless, I didn’t end up getting into The ArchAndroid until about a month ago when I heard The Electric Lady‘s fantastic single, “Dance Apocalyptic”, which affirmed my suspicions that Monae was a talent worth paying attention to.  Also, I should remind you that this is the second music review in a row in which I’ve sighted an awesome album from 2010 that I just recently got into.  So yeah.  2010, it’s the year that keeps on giving.

As far as Janelle’s Monae’s influences, I don’t think she’s terribly concerned about hiding them, since one of her bigger ones (Prince) makes an appearance on the album.  And besides the Purple One, you can also see Monae continuing to indulge all sorts of R&B reference points, from ’70s funksters like Stevie Wonder and George Clinton to more recent hip-hop influences.  And then on top of that, you’ve got Monae continuing to pursue the sci-fi concept album aesthetic, as she once again explores the adventures of Cyndi Maywhether, her fictional android persona.  So obviously there’s a lot of stuff going on here.  Which begs the question, is there too much stuff going on here?

Maybe.  With a 67 minute running time, The Electric Lady is a bit larger in scope than The ArchAndroid, and consequently is a little less consistent.  Sure, there are some hip-shakingly golden moments here, like the aforementioned “Dance Apocalyptic”, or the deep funk of the Erykah Badu collaboration “Q.U.E.E.N.”.  But at the same time, I could probably do without a couple of the slower songs, as well as the radio-themed skits that are interspersed throughout the album.  Still, it’s hard not to be charmed by a singer who’s willing to throw together so many gleefully disparate elements, all while doing it with the utmost chutzpah.

Favorite Tracks: “Q.U.E.E.N.”, “Dance Apocalyptic” “Dorothy Dandridge Eyes”

It took me a while to come around on ’90s indie rockers Superchunk, and I’m not entirely sure why.  Because hmm, let’s see what traits Superchunk have in common with the kind of music I usually graduate towards: Raw ear-pumping melodies?  Check.  Ties to the ’80s/’90s alternative scene?  Check.  A lead singer that loves joyously shouting at the top of his lungs?  Check.  A desire to be pretty darn catchy while still rocking the fuck out?  Checkitty Check Check Check.  So I suppose it should come as no surprise that I’m pretty down with the band’s follow-up to their ass-kicking 2010 comeback album.

Majesty Shredding, the comeback album in question, was pretty great because it saw Superchunk effectively channeling the energetic quality of their early ’90s stuff without any regard for the fact that the indie landscape had changed considerably in the ten years since they had released an album.  I Hate Music is in many ways a continuation of this, as songs like “Me & You & Jackie Mattoo” and “FOH” have that great teenage-inspired scrappiness that Superchunk have always exuded, no matter what their age.

Thankfully though, I Hate Music never quite sees Superchunk as a band just rehashing their old sound just for the sake of having some fun.  No, there’s actually a bittersweet quality to some of the songs, which occasionally mix Superchunk’s dependably effervescent qualities with a twinge of longing and regret.  I think the opening track “Overflows” lays out the album’s M.O. quite nicely, as it starts as a contemplative ballad and eventually leads to joyous refrains of “Let’s go!/Don’t let go, let go!”.  Which has a nice contradictory quality to it, while admitting that veteran bands like Superchunk are probably at their best when simultaneously pushing themselves forwards and backwards at the same time.

Favorite Tracks: “Overflows”, “Me & You & Jackie Mattoo”, “FOH”

It was just the other day that I found myself squeezed into the front row of a sold out Grouplove performance at the iconic Emerald City venue “The Crocodile”. The show was a blast and notable for a handful of reasons. Most notably, it was the live debut of most of the songs off of Grouplove’s new album “Spreading Rumours” (the very posh British spelling). Additionally, they were selling the new album at the show, despite the fact that it’s not due out until September 17th. The band had a lot to live up to following the commercial hits of their first album, but after hearing most of this album from a crowd and then from my headphones, I think it’s safe to say they’ve topped themselves.

Following up their 2011 party-pop debut Never Trust a Happy Song, this L.A. quintet has yet again captured a youthfully fun feel with even more bells and whistles. The band brims with energy on shout-a-long tracks like the heavy “Borderlines and Aliens” or the faintly synth-pop opener “I’m With You”. “Ways to Go” occupies the role of infectious lead single with its simplistic keyboard riff and bouncy electro-drum beat. Its my personal choice for fun-in-the-sun song of the summer.

A strong sense of collaboration and good vibrations attaches itself to Grouplove’s music, they have fun and I have fun listening to them. I particularly enjoy the interplay between Kurt Cobain-esque frontman Christian Zucconi and the band’s endlessly jovial backup vocalist Hannah Hooper. The whole musical affair comes off like a hippy-dippy house party where the fun never stops.

Like the first album, there’s one minor kick that tugs at my ripped jeans. Spreading Rumours feels very frontloaded. The five best songs are the five first songs. The rest of the bunch is passable but not nearly as memorable. Still, the album has a better feng shui than its predecessor, more balanced. Not to mention that armed with this new material they put on a helluva show. Only time will tell if the rest of the music world will be tapping its toes or wagging its finger at Spreading Rumours for being too sugary sweet. Either way, I’m content to hold on to this pop/rock cavity.

Favorite Tracks: “I’m With You,” “School Boy,” “Ways to Go”