MGMT’s Performance On ‘Letterman’ Last Night Was An Infuriating Mess

To quote what I’m sure David Letterman was thinking, “What the f*ck is going on?” Psychedelic surf-rockers MGMT are releasing a new album soon, three years after Congratulations let down millions of people who unfairly wanted to hear “Kids, Vol. 2,” so they stopped by Late Show to play the new single, “Your Life Is a Lie.” At the risk of hyperbole: it’s EVERYTHING WRONG with indie rock, indie pop, or whatever you want to call it.

Unnecessary weirdness in the form of a giant cowbell? Check. Costumes? Check. A bunch of scruffy white dudes looking disinterested even though they’re lucky enough to be playing in front of millions of people? Check. (And I even sort of like the intentionally repetitive song, although live, it loses much of its fuzzy appeal.) Gah. MGMT often feels like more of an art project than actual band, and with this performance, they just blew a lot of high school sophomore’s minds.

As for Letterman, he’s already back to thinking about Haim, to cheer himself up.

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