The story goes that Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani "Son of George" Harrison conjured nine songs in three days for this supersession. It sounds like it. But there's charm in their debut's raggedness: See the three-part harmonies on "Restore Me," which cut through the opening scribble like sun through clouds. Harper brings his liquid acoustic slide, Arthur his exquisite melodic sense. Drum guru Jim Keltner helps knit it all together, while Harrison, the multi-instrumentalist kid of the group, also brings unmistakable pipes: When he sings, "I'm still my father's son," it's like, yes you are.

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“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”