The past decade has seen a rush-up to post-apocalyptic music and art. Even though Isaac Brock sang “I just don’t need none of that Mad Max bullshit” it only makes sense in the context of a bad scenario for humanity. What if instead we found the garden?

Technology is not as fun as it once was. The novelty is wearing off. You can only listen to an iPod for so long. High-Definition TV is only so entertaining. The sound of the wind blowing through tree branches never stops being fascinating. It and its parallel phenomena: rivers rushing by, creeks gurgling, birds calling, night descending, day breaking – these are the true sources of the common spirit that Lao Tzu wrote about, Jesus heard speaking in the night and what we hear calling from afar whenever we think to ourselves while watching or listening to the next media thing, “is this all there is?”.

That’s where MGMT comes in. The primitivist John Zerzan wrote, “The society that abolishes all adventure makes the abolition of that society the only real adventure.” MGMT makes it feel like a real alternative when they sing “We couldn’t use computers anymore. It’s difficult to win unless you’re bored.”

They seem to nail the wave of ennui that is continuously crashing on America’s youth by asking, “Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?” Is this small enclave of America’s youth the harbinger of a new day?

The eternal question: when will things change? How long can we sit around and put up with this world that provides little satisfaction and no legitimate fun? When they sing, “…to find a shore/…/Where we can crush some plants to paint my walls/…/I was too lazy to bathe or paint or write or try to make a change/Now I can shoot a gun to kill my lunch/And I don’t have to love or think too much” are they opening a window on that world?

The last line is the most intriguing, “And I don’t have to love or think too much”. Coinciding with the movement towards abstract human relations in non face-to-face communication in e-mail, “social” networking sites, text messaging, cell phone use and video/webcam chat we are seeing a hysterical move towards overemphasizing the emotions we now lack amongst those even supposedly closest to us. “Love” is quickly becoming a meaningless word.

It is undeniable that there is a move towards regimented thought and action in the training of our youth in the school system that we’ve propagated. Original thought is discouraged while a new age mish-mash of watered down politics and propaganda is passed off as critical thought. Difference itself has been incorporated into the new cultural ideal as now even the most extreme appearance and lifestyles are accepted as long as you still go to work every day and spend money.

This phenomenon probably began with punk culture – what punk nowadays can shock anyone? – and moved into areas like ultra-violence and marketing of hate in rap music, acceptance of virtually every sexual orientation, a general cultural acceptance of extreme vulgarity and explicit sexual references, ubiquitous porn, tattooing, fetishized female teenagers, acceptance of greed and avarice as positive traits, the list goes on. And what propagates these trends? Our imaginations no longer match up with our actions.

MGMT seems to be going in the opposite direction – perhaps they’ve seen the alternative: “And there were future reflections/On the face and the hands/On a green colored island/On a primitive man/It was the future reflected/It felt familiar but new/A street was missing a building/The kids had something to do”.

Please don’t make them stop.