Time To Pretend

We can call it iconic at this point, right? Hearing that opening synth melody feels like emerging from a cocoon. No wonder the duo compared it to “the wings of an insect.” One of my earliest memories of discovery, that high so prized by music nerds, was hearing this song take flight with a titanic drum fill. Never mind that I probably heard it on the radio. The build and release structure is proto-EDM, but the winking lyrics are more dorm room than warehouse. The boys of MGMT fantasize about archetypal rockstar hedonism, decades removed from Mick and Keith in the south of France. I fantasized about being in a band like MGMT, nearly a decade away from a legal drink. The song begins with “I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life.” There’s nothing better to yell out a car window, even when none of it’s true.

Originally published on NDSMCObserver.