Andrew
A
ndrew VanWyngarden admits that
he was feeling a bit conflicted
when he went to Madison Square
Garden a couple of years ago to see one of
his favorite bands, The Cure. What the
MGMT anchor wouldn’t have minded
sioned – the crowd wanted to hear the
quirky Cure hits, and crowds usually get
their way. Which perfectly summarizes
VanWyngarden and his MGMT chum Ben
Goldwasser’s work ethic on their new
fourth effort, Little Dark Age. After break-
ing big with its eccentric synth-pop debut
disc Oracular Spectacular in 2007, and feel-
good hits like “Kids,” “Electric Feel,” and
“Time to Pretend,” the duo released two
eclectic, esoteric experiments (2010’s
Congratulations and MGMT in 2013) per-
fectly calibrated to toss all but the most
devoted fans straight off the bandwagon.
But now it’s returned to doing what it does
best – sneaking up on listeners with
oblique hooks and grim tongue-in-cheek
wordplay on inventive morsels like
“When You Die,” “When You’re Smal