"Congratulations" is the new album by indie pop duo MGMT.

You don’t have to be a pretentious hipster to like MGMT. I found “Oracular Spectacular”, the duo’s 2008 debut, quite charming. However, a lot of the buzz around their new album, “Congratulations” (which is out today), has been kinda off-putting. Not the reviews of the album itself, but the way the band’s been attempting to distance themselves from their debut just smacks of pretension. I’m probably not being fair. I’m sure the album is at least worth a listen. Maybe living in Boston is just souring me on the whole indie hipster “holier than thou” attitude. Hipsters are probably just obnoxious on account of penis envy. After all, you can’t have any junk in the front if you can squeeze into those thrift-store skinny jeans.

Now that I’ve pissed off a chunk of my readership, what else is out today? Not a lot of this week’s releases garner my interest. Jeff Beck (who I discovered only recently thanks to my friend CJ) has an album out today. So does Natalie Merchant (whose solo work makes me want to bang my head against the nearest hard surface). Season 7 “Idol” finalist/probable pothead Jason Castro makes his debut today, and we’ve also got a new album from Coheed and Cambria, which would have been SO cool…if only it was 2005.

Anyway, I’ve obviously got my cranky pants on this morning, so why don’t you head on over to Pause and Play and check out the rest of this week’s new releases?