MGMT

     Oracular Spectacular (Columbia, 2008)

Not long after they released their debut, this Brooklyn duo became one of the most lauded bands in indie-dom, with bloggers and middle-agers alike buzzing over their psychedelia-infused mix of indie pop and dance music. MGMT dress in capes and play tunes with titles like "4th Dimensional Transition " and "Future Reflections," but they usually transcend such Beyond the Valley of the Dolls kitsch by rolling out top-shelf synth-rock tunes. Produced by the Flaming Lips' Dave Fridmann, Oracular Spectacular veers from the flute-looped rumble of "Electric Feel" to the dappled folk-rock drift of "Weekend Wars" to the sunny squelching of "Time to Pretend," an amusing parody of life in the music biz. The topper is "Kids," on which dappled b.s. like "you pick the insects off plants / No time to think of consequences" is set to a pie-eyed dancefloor pump. It's like the dawning of Age of Aquarius reflected in a cracked disco ball.

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