‘Electric Feel’: how MGMT’s indie pop parody defined the sound of a generation
The period between 2007 and 2008 was for indie/rock culture. Arctic Monkeys released Favourite Worst Nightmare, Radiohead released In Rainbows, The White Stripes released Icky Thump, Arcade Fire released Neon Bible, LCD Soundsystem released Sound of Silver, and MGMT released Oracular Spectacular. Among the many excellent singles the latter released for the build-up to their debut album, ‘Electric Feel’ stood out not only as an era-defining indie anthem but as a hyperbolic take on past, present, and future.
When MGMT began writing music for their debut and breakthrough, the landscape had changed exponentially. The arrival of indie rock meant a plethora of things for traditional rock, including the shunning of many of its major tropes and the simultaneous adherence to it. However, while traditional rock celebrated the nostalgic pools it revolutionised, indie rock held another principle at its core: none of that matters if it’s not fun.
Many of the anthems that emerged from this era pandered to exactly that: bands became ringleaders if they mastered the art of heart-pumping rhythms and catchy melodies while tapping into the more relevant aspects of youth culture. Take Favourite Worst Nightmare, for instance, and the mischievous partygoer nature almost every song took in its stride, from ‘Teddy Picker’ to ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’. Although this was most overtly epitomised by their debut, the dedication to capturing the disillusionment of growing up in the 21st century permeated theirs and a lot of other bands’ material, with the same formula being churned out again and again because it’s what most audiences enjoyed at the time.
Many of these overused tropes compounded the formation of Oracular Spectacular, with MGMT consistently being faced with the choice of celebrating and conforming or criticising, a balance that, more often than not, saw them extract endearing facets of both sides. Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser might have become endeared to the conventions of indie like everybody else. Still, within their own music, they realised they could use irony and satire as a base for their distinction.
Everything about ‘Electric Feel’ is an instant hit, from its bassline and synth to its catchy chorus. It creates the sort of indie-infused dance rhythm that fits seamlessly into every indie room across the country. However, faced with an oversaturation of pre-existing polished and over-mixed indie hits, MGMT conceived ‘Electric Feel’ as a means to poke fun at the scene, offering an exaggerated version of everything played on heavy radio rotation.
Their efforts to parody the space ended up playing into it, capturing the very appeal of early-2000s indie and electronic efforts. They channelled youthful party culture through technical innovation, making an unexpectedly intellectual statement that resonated with the cultural zeitgeist. The song itself is immensely pop-y, but the younger generation was drawn in by the familiarity, primarily enjoying its accessibility while acknowledging that its hidden critique was merely an exciting additional bonus.
‘Electric Feel’ was also the first song MGMT wrote for Oracular Spectacular, which largely emerged from a spontaneous atmosphere as the members allowed themselves to be guided by intuition and anything they felt endeared to at the time. As Goldwasser later reflected to Crosswire: “A lot of times when we write songs, we have had some kind of influence or a style that we really want to put into our music.”
He added: “We’ll say let’s have that part sound like this, and that part sound like that, and then we piece it all together. We didn’t plan anything.”
Interestingly, the duo had no long-term aspirations or dreams of making it to the big time. They created the song in their dorm at Wesleyan University and surprised themselves when they got signed, and it became a hit. Clearly, something in their fleeting nonchalance captured the essence of carefree youth more than most, with authenticity permeating its rhythms without the restrictions of fame pressure.
