Word: congratulationsã
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...Time To Pretend,” is puzzlingly ironic, in that one is pretty sure it is ironic, but can only guess to what extent. Whereas “Time to Pretend” presented an obvious pastiche of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, “Congratulations?? confronts the hubris on the other side of this cliché. The group is now successful and, having been through their years of pretending, are receiving the praise they deserve. If this image of the band is invoked ironically, then what does that say about them? Apparently, that they...
...achieving most success with the psychedelic synthpop hit “Kids.” For their second album, however, the group have refused to release any singles. Instead they recorded a cohesive body of work meant to be heard in one continuous sitting. As such, “Congratulations?? contains no songs that come close to the New Order-inspired thrills of “Kids;” in fact, it’s hard to imagine a single track off this album making its way anywhere near a dance floor. Nevertheless, it succeeds in cohering...
Stylistically, “Congratulations?? does not diverge from many of the album tracks on “Oracular Spectacular.” The 1970s prog rock and ambient music that inspired “Weekend Wars” and “The Handshake” are the key touchstones on this record. Heck, “Congratulations?? even has a track called “Brian Eno”—one of the album’s more straightforward cuts, avoiding the numerous shifts in style that define most of the tracks...
This alienation is appropriate, since “Congratulations?? as a whole does not try very hard to invite a listener in. It is an insular and convoluted record that explicitly rejects passion and, instead, aims for more cerebral pleasures. As the opener “It’s Working” states, “It’s working in your blood / Which you know is not the same as love / Love is only in your mind.” If one can fall in love with “Congratulations,” it?...
...Congratulations?? isn’t supposed to be easy or accessible. Many may listen to it once, find nothing of interest, and discard it. But that will be their loss. Whether it’s the Kinks-like tongue-in-cheek third-person storytelling of “Song for Dan Treacy,” the Berlin-era, Bowie-esque piano instrumental “Lady Dada’s Nightmare,” or the seeming dozens of stylistic shifts through 12-minute album centerpiece “Siberian Breaks,” the album is full...