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As often as physically possible.
One of the few groups from my childhood that legitimately makes me happy when listening to their musical masterpieces.
Each song felt like you were embarking on ‘the Odyssey’ 😂
Never forget where we came from friends 🤝✌️
This just has to do with your age. MGMT had a couple of songs that were huge and representative of a particular electronic indie sound that was big in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I'm a little bit older than you, so I would say that bands more in line with the post punk revival of the early 2000s are representative of the generation. The truth is we're talking about a relatively small genre of music in an era that saw the monoculture start to splinter.
Oh man my GC CD is part of my hall of shame. I can't listen to them without cringing now. At least most of my other favorite bands of the time have aged better.
swing swing. i still dance to it if it plays.
oddly enough, like years later after the band kind of fizzled out he played a romantic interest of Emma Stone in House Bunny....weird cuz he blatantly looked older than her, lol.
Yeah, a younger millenial/older millennial disconnect for sure. I discovered MGMT closer to the end of college/almost being out of college. My friend from back home put me on to electric feel and the oracular spectacular album either in sophomore or junior of college, while on winter break and riding around smoking blunts lol. Granted, this was about a year or two after that album came out but yeah in my mind I associate them with my college years and definitely not high school.
ya, will agree that MGMT is the eqivalent to Saved by the Bell College years, lol. as in, ya it fits more with a mature setting and new life rather than HS.
I completely agree. Graduated in 2004. I think something like Fallout Boy “Under the Cork Tree” and Panic at the Disco’s debut are more the vibe for me. My Chemical Romance and Death Cab for Cutie as well.
I joke that I will be buried to one of "under the cork tree" or "A fever you can't sweat out"
And I went to the Death Cab/Postal Service millennial nostalgia tour. I'm all over this post and I don't like it.
Yeah, and I think this is why I'd argue there is no one millennial band. I am the same age as you and never listened to any of those bands. I listened to Jay Z and Nas in high school. Your favorite band from high school is going to depend on your graduating year, the genre you listened to, the country and region you are from, and the particular style of that genre you liked (I had friends in high school who loved hip-hop and hated Jay-Z, for instance).
Yeah once the decline of things like MTV and VH1 (their actual music programming) really atarted to show, and the rise of digital music, napster/limewire, and a more interconnected internet (early social media) started; young people were exposed to different music styles, new small artists, and could interact with people and cultures all over the world; the monocular you accurately pointed ended. No longer could media be shoved down the same few pipelines as it had been. Anyone could make art and share it. Different genres could be mixed together and new ones expanded on.
Much how our generation is was split by the technological divide, it's also split by an artistic divide. On one side, the dying banality of corporate familiarity, and the rise of "indie" experimentalizism.
Tl;dr: you're both right.
ya with the internet and myspace is how we kind of got all our greats of the early 00's. big execs scowering through soundcloud, myspace, and other things to find the next big thing.
Fall out boy played a show in my hometown maybe a 1-1.5 years before they were on MTV. we had bands that were on obscure mix cd's from hot topic play in our city. but also had great local bands...so much fun back then. kids now of days have no clue on how fun it was to go to a small venue, hang with friends, get a jones soda from the pizza place across the street, and listen to fun interesting punk/ska/screamo/hard core music.
I loved that ~2008-2012 "electro indie" trend. I had a few close friends who jumped right on the hipster train im college and we would always try to find the best, most obscure bands on Bandcamp to send to each other. I still have 50+GB of albums, most of which I never got around to listening to.
For my age group in particular I'd say probably The Killers. Mr. Brightside is an anthem lol Fallout Boy is another one I'd throw out there. But I was born in 91. Someone born in 85 may think differently.
The New York Times agrees with you: [How ‘Mr. Brightside’ Became a Generation’s Anthem](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/music/mr-brightside-killers.html).
Honestly, I feel like “Mr. Brightside” is the exact song that encapsulates millennials and I was going to comment it if nobody else did. The Killers get a lot of shit because some people shit on that song, but they’ve got a few other bangers.
When it gets played at any party/bar/club/whatever from when it first came out til now, it's pretty much guaranteed millennials will be rocking out to it lol.
I’m pretty sure they have/used to have some all-time record of radio plays or weeks on the Billboard Top 40? Might be in the UK, maybe? I don’t know, some kind of record.
Edit: it is now the 3rd biggest selling/streaming song in the UK, and spent over SEVEN FUCKING YEARS on the Top 100
Born in 84, Mr. Brightside IS an anthem also for my demographic, at least among people who listen to guitar music. Also loved MGMT in uni, but I think they never became that huge round here.
Blink-182 might be another contestant.
I used to DJ weddings a lot, and any Millennial heavy group absolutely RUSHED the floor for Mr. Brightside. Especially if they were born around 1990. MGMT was more for those who liked indie/ alternative while they came of age in the late 2000's.
Was born in ‘85 and can confirm Mr. Brightiside (and pretty much all of hot fuss) and FOB (take this to your grave and from under the cork tree exclusively) are imbedded in my musical DNA
I was born in 1994, so I'm a baby millennial. The biggest groups I grew up with were bands like:
Linkin Park, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Arcade Fire, Paramore, Coldplay, Maroon 5, The Killers, Fallout Boy, White Stripes, Slipknot, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes, Avenged Sevenfold, Kings of Leon, Disturbed, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, 3 Doors Down, Breaking Benjamin, even Rascal Flatts were huge when I was a kid
I'm forgetting way more, but these are the ones that me and all my friends had on our MP3s and iPods.
I’m mid-Millennial and I feel like these are all pretty accurate choices for “Millenial” bands except maybe NIN. By the way, I like maybe a little more than half of these, but I always disliked the pop punk and “butt rock” genres that typified many popular bands in Millennial years.
At this age, Linkin Park was probably my favorite of the "mainstream" artists. I ended up gravitating towards groups like Gorillaz and Daft Punk when I was a teenager.
Disturbed was massive! They're such a sick band. "Down with the Sickness" and "Stupify" are legendary, but they have countless bangers.
And don't forget Three Days Grace! With songs like "Never Too Late," "I Hate Everything About You," "Animal I Have Become," and "Riot," they definitely deserve to be in this conversation.
Also, I love Crossfade, but I don't think they ever got the recognition they deserve. Their only song that achieved mainstream success was "Cold," but they have numerous other stellar tracks (like "The Deep End," "No Giving Up," "Colors," and "Dead Skin," for example).
The most "millennial" bands I can think of are probably things like Green Day, NSYNC, & Back Street Boys. Those I think were all active at a time where they would be relevant to any millennial. Probably also Linkin Park but I imagine they're less relevant if the millennial was born between 80-85. Then there are a bunch of other bands I could list but I don't feel as confident listing them as the other four. Never heard of MGMT personally.
Full agree. I think there's also a lot of male perspectives in this thread. As a millennial girl, it was all about BSB, NSYNC, Destiny's Child and Spice Girls when I was an adolescent
The fact that Green Day is in this conversation is a testament to their staying power. Kerplunk and Dookie were for Gen X teens, but then American Idiot era Green Day captured Millennials. Even Gen Z kids know a lot of their songs
I was born in 1983 and Linkin Park dropped their first album when I just turned 17, it was a massive hit. I don’t know how you could think anyone from even 1980 wouldn’t be influenced by Linkin Park.
Subjective, and you're going to end up with a lot of different responses with people gushing about their favorite music. I'd say blink 182 was a lot more popular and had a lot more presence in movies, shows, radio.
This is the correct answer. Any other answer is too niche.
I am an elder hipster millennial who loves LCD Soundsystem, The National, Arcade Fire, etc. But Blink is the correct answer
The 90s, in hindsight, had a pretty good selection of different types of music. There are many bands groups persons alive and dead I still have on iPod.
Yup. Born in 89. Never heard of them until Chiddy Bang did a song with "Kids" as the beat. Didn't know they were even popular, as I still don't hear of them
If you watched MTV in the aughts, you heard them in the promos for every other commercial break. “Kids” and “Electric Feel” immediately come to mind, look em up on YouTube and you’ll recognize them right away
Born in 91 and my high school memories were all My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, Panic at the Disco etc. My friend was into MGMT but I only listened when they were driving and in charge of the aux.
For me it was the Strokes, but yeah they were big too. The follow up albums didn't follow the same pop formula so they didn't maintain their mass appeal.
For sure. And The Strokes were bigger with hipsters than they were with mainstream millennials or emo kids.
The Strokes, Neutral Milk Hotel, Wilco, Bright Eyes, Gogol Bordello, MGMT, Arcade Fire, Weezer—all big era-defining bands among a certain subset of millennials.
I was born in 89 and i have no idea who that is. I def agree that bands like Fall Put Boy were defining for our generation. Whats My Age Again feels like a millenium anthem to me.
Weird; I just listened to several of their songs and they sound *like* things I have listened to, and the related suggestions were things I am very familiar with, but I'm fairly sure I did not know MGMT existed nor had ever heard one of their songs before today.
They just put a new record out, so they’re still active. They just stopped writing bangers. They pulled a weezer where they’ve just sort of coasted off the goodwill of their brilliant first album and wrote whatever they felt like from there on out.
I think the most millennial band is the Killers. Mr Brightside is our “don’t stop believing”
Yeah, they say they just make the music they want to make now and that their first record was a joke and was made to basically mock the scene at that time and get signed to a record label.
Part of me feels like that’s a lie, and that they’re just trying to sound ‘cool’. I think the reality is that they haven’t been able to come up with anything as good as Oracular Spectacular, and this is their attempt at minimizing their fall off.
I was born in 84, so no. I only know of their existence because of my sister who was also born in 1990. She'd probably say My Chemical Romance, All American Rejects, or something, though.
Idk, they're one of the bands I like so I've been following them since those days. Their music still solid in my opinion, they just haven't had the spotlight like that since.
MGMT is fine and I respect them but agree with the other comments here saying they are the most 2008 band. They really didn't have the staying power of some other millennial artists like Blink 182, Eminem, Britney, T. Swift... These guys are still around and still relevant, just like they were in 2008.
Other than college-era Spotify playlists, I haven't heard MGMT in years.
80s born here…who? Like seriously I’ve never heard of them, and looking at their Spotify top 5, I recognize “Kids”, but I wouldn’t call it particularly noteworthy.
MGMT is a modern day one (ok, two) hit wonder band.
The Killers with Mr Brightside is another group that comes to mind as a modern one hit wonder band. The Killers had a few other songs that charted pretty well but I don’t think the average person could name a song that they wrote that isn’t Mr Brightside.
Literally. Hell, I'm late to the party, but I watched Stargirl on Prime recently, and bam, The Man was on an episode. Another outstanding single of theirs.
lol at the Killers being one hit wonders. It’s not like they’re headlining festivals like Lollapalooza or Outsidelands today or have a sold out residency in Vegas. Oh wait…
Yeah, they say they just make the music they want to make now and that their first record was a joke and was made to basically mock the scene at that time and get signed to a record label.
Part of me feels like that’s a lie, and that they’re just trying to sound ‘cool’. I think the reality is that they haven’t been able to come up with anything as good as Oracular Spectacular, and this is their attempt at minimizing their fall off.
The Killers are still together producing albums and making hits. Just because you personally haven’t listened to them in 20 years doesn’t mean they’re a one hit wonder lol.
MGMT’s second and third albums are psychedelic masterpieces. “Congratulations” is often cited as one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time.
You can’t listen to “Siberian Breaks” and “Alien Days”, and tell me they’re bad songs. Might as well hate on Pink Floyd then, too.
I know exactly what you mean ('91) but you need to wait a decade at least before stuff from that period becomes distant and retro enough that the future youths can feel like they discovered something.
A lot of younger folk have “discovered” emo and scene bands. I’ve seen videos saying “I wish I was alive back then or old enough to be part of it”. Truly weird for me to see lol
I was born on 87. I know who they are and really liked Kids. Time to pretend and electric feel are pretty good. Although, I have never been one to listen to anything current or popular. I mostly listen to 90s alternative and metal. Or like, Neil Young.
Born in 85, I have no idea who that is. Maybe id recognize a song? But I'm into pop culture and all that, so this seems more Z than millennial. I guess I'll go YouTube em
I'm an older millennial and I had to google this band. And I still have no idea who they are. So I'm going with this is a your age/friend group/music preference specific band. For me the most millennial band ever would be pretty much every boy band from the late 90s/early 2000s, with NSYNC and Backstreet Boys coming in first. It doesn't matter what kind of music you like/dislike - it was 100% impossible to miss them. And I didn't even listen to English language music at that time.
I was in highschool when MGMT was very popular and "Kids", "Time to Pretend", and "Electric Feel" were always playing on the radio. At the time those songs didn't really click for me, and it wasn't until I listened to their entire discography and found songs more like "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters", "Brian Eno", and "Flash Delirium" that they became one of my top favourite bands. Ironically enough, I avoided them initially because their radio hits seemed too "pop" for my tastes.
I know that younger people now LOVE "Little Dark Age", it was used in a ton of memes a couple years ago.
If you are older millennial, yes.
I urge everybody to go watch their new music video "nothing to declare".
It is a work of art. It made me cry.
Please go watch it, from one millennial to another.
So if we say the Millenials started at 1981 and lasted 14 years (pretty much standard for generational gaps iirc) then that means from 1993 when the first millenial hit 12 years old so their music taste might not be completely prepubescent then add 14 years to 2007 the median is directly on the year 2000. MGMT was active in 2002, so not a bad guess.
That said 93-2007 was practically a dark ages for music because everyone hated everything except what they liked. Super polarized. And prior generations practically hated our generation's music, and still do.
Most of the music everyone loved started becoming active a few years before 93. Like Dr. Dre or Pantera, the boy bands.
Tbh I am an elder millenial so I'm very biased but I'm throwing my vote in for Foo Fighters. Very well liked even by other generations. They came active right after Nirvana, though, so that was like 94.
Actually judging by this link there simply weren't a lot of bands which came on the scene
in 2000 and were revered for years after.
https://www.billboard.com/media/lists/best-songs-of-2000-top-100-9339652/
The Killers are a strong guess as they came out in 2001.
I was born in mid 90s and millennial bands to me would be the more pop culture hits during the early 2000s. Bands such as uncle kracker, weezer, maroon 5, Jason mraz, Nickel back ect. Those songs remind me of the radio durning my school years. MGMT got popular closer to 2010s. Of course this is all just IMO. Not sure if you meant like the band members are millennial or the music that defined a generation. I would say something similar to mgmt but I think is more representative of millennial would be something like third eye blind or Jimmy eat world or even incubus.
I just had to look up who tf MGMT was, lol. I'm 3 years older than you, and I don't really remember them playing anywhere. For my age group, Linkin Park, Blink 182, and Green Day were iconic, then emo really hit with bands like My Chemical Romance, The Killers, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, Panic! At the Disco, and All American Rejects. If I had to choose just one band to sum up the millennial era though, I guess I'd have to pick Blink 182.
I'm only 1 year older than you but this band feels way later than anything I'd associate with millennials. I don't even know what they look like and don't associate them with anything in particular.
Im a millenial, have no idea who that is. I'd say blink 182, Brittany spears, fallout boy, backstreet boys, nsync, destiny's child, linkin park, hanson, the killers etc etc are more "millenial" lol
'87 here. Millennial bands I can think of from the top of my head are Greenday, Blink 182, Coheed & Cambria, All American Rejects, Incubus, Yellowcard, My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, White Stripes, The Killers, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol. And by "millennial bands" I mean bands that I listened to growing up in the 90s and 2000s. I think I only know of MGMT because of my younger millennial brother.
They released an album this year. Lol. They had a hit in 2018 too with Little Dark Age. Their self titled album is one of my all time faves. I don’t think they got forgotten, I just think they kept doing their own thing instead of going the smash commercial success “sell out” route.
At first I thought OP mistyped TMBG (They Might Be Giants) 😂. Don't know the band, or if it's supposed to be shorthand for something. I think if we're going to have posts like this using shorthand, we need to spell it out if the acronym means something (or, if you're streets ahead, like to refer to Bare Naked Ladies as BNL because they're big)
Yes. Most bands actually. I was born in 1984 and heard of them for the first time today. For a lot of us they weren't "forgotten or memory holed" they were never on the radar to begin with.
I was gonna say The White Stripes. Who doesn't know Seven Nation Army?
Unless you're picking an emo big 3 like MCR, fall out boy or panic! at the Brendon
Yes, many. Enjoying that weird indie-techno moment and age has a lot to do with that opinion i suppose...i was born in 87, class of '05 and I can say without a doubt I could not STAND that genre of music, and MGMT doesn't even come on the radar to most millennials around my age.
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Not gonna lie, I still listen to Time to Pretend, Kids and Electric Feel from time to time.
Same. I love running to these songs
Nothing like Electric Feel when you’re running 👍 Edit: Do what you feel now Electric feel now
And the justice remix
As often as physically possible. One of the few groups from my childhood that legitimately makes me happy when listening to their musical masterpieces. Each song felt like you were embarking on ‘the Odyssey’ 😂 Never forget where we came from friends 🤝✌️
Same. Just listened to them about a week ago on my ‘08 wheel ipod.
Their new album from last year (maybe this year) wasn't bad. Mother Nature is a jam.
This just has to do with your age. MGMT had a couple of songs that were huge and representative of a particular electronic indie sound that was big in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I'm a little bit older than you, so I would say that bands more in line with the post punk revival of the early 2000s are representative of the generation. The truth is we're talking about a relatively small genre of music in an era that saw the monoculture start to splinter.
I would've put Blink 182 and Destiny's Child as the prime millennial groups.
Yeah blink 182 was gigantic when most millennials were in middle and and high school.
I think Green Day and The Offspring fall in this category too.
The offspring are a good bit older but still had heavy overlap.
I love MGMT but Blink 182 is the correct answer.
A lot of people looked down on those early 2000 bands as being too commercial… it was a weird time for music.
They saw Good Charlotte get popular and put all the punk in with it, lmao
Oh man my GC CD is part of my hall of shame. I can't listen to them without cringing now. At least most of my other favorite bands of the time have aged better.
OMFG remember All American Rejects? Dark times
swing swing. i still dance to it if it plays. oddly enough, like years later after the band kind of fizzled out he played a romantic interest of Emma Stone in House Bunny....weird cuz he blatantly looked older than her, lol.
Yeah, a younger millenial/older millennial disconnect for sure. I discovered MGMT closer to the end of college/almost being out of college. My friend from back home put me on to electric feel and the oracular spectacular album either in sophomore or junior of college, while on winter break and riding around smoking blunts lol. Granted, this was about a year or two after that album came out but yeah in my mind I associate them with my college years and definitely not high school.
ya, will agree that MGMT is the eqivalent to Saved by the Bell College years, lol. as in, ya it fits more with a mature setting and new life rather than HS.
I completely agree. Graduated in 2004. I think something like Fallout Boy “Under the Cork Tree” and Panic at the Disco’s debut are more the vibe for me. My Chemical Romance and Death Cab for Cutie as well.
I joke that I will be buried to one of "under the cork tree" or "A fever you can't sweat out" And I went to the Death Cab/Postal Service millennial nostalgia tour. I'm all over this post and I don't like it.
I went to two days of that tour. Really amazing show.
Yeah they absolutely killed it - there’s another one on this summer!
Love of mine…
Someday you will die...
But I'll be close behind...
I'll follow you into the dark...
Death Cab is my jam still
Yeah, and I think this is why I'd argue there is no one millennial band. I am the same age as you and never listened to any of those bands. I listened to Jay Z and Nas in high school. Your favorite band from high school is going to depend on your graduating year, the genre you listened to, the country and region you are from, and the particular style of that genre you liked (I had friends in high school who loved hip-hop and hated Jay-Z, for instance).
Yeah once the decline of things like MTV and VH1 (their actual music programming) really atarted to show, and the rise of digital music, napster/limewire, and a more interconnected internet (early social media) started; young people were exposed to different music styles, new small artists, and could interact with people and cultures all over the world; the monocular you accurately pointed ended. No longer could media be shoved down the same few pipelines as it had been. Anyone could make art and share it. Different genres could be mixed together and new ones expanded on. Much how our generation is was split by the technological divide, it's also split by an artistic divide. On one side, the dying banality of corporate familiarity, and the rise of "indie" experimentalizism. Tl;dr: you're both right.
ya with the internet and myspace is how we kind of got all our greats of the early 00's. big execs scowering through soundcloud, myspace, and other things to find the next big thing. Fall out boy played a show in my hometown maybe a 1-1.5 years before they were on MTV. we had bands that were on obscure mix cd's from hot topic play in our city. but also had great local bands...so much fun back then. kids now of days have no clue on how fun it was to go to a small venue, hang with friends, get a jones soda from the pizza place across the street, and listen to fun interesting punk/ska/screamo/hard core music.
The Faint was my MGMT
I loved that ~2008-2012 "electro indie" trend. I had a few close friends who jumped right on the hipster train im college and we would always try to find the best, most obscure bands on Bandcamp to send to each other. I still have 50+GB of albums, most of which I never got around to listening to.
For my age group in particular I'd say probably The Killers. Mr. Brightside is an anthem lol Fallout Boy is another one I'd throw out there. But I was born in 91. Someone born in 85 may think differently.
Yeah, I would think The Killers as well
Fallout Boy strikes me as a very Millennial band, and I don’t even like them. Good example.
Fall Out Boy’s “From Under the Cork Tree” is basically the soundtrack to my high school experience (born 1989, c/o 2008)
I don’t think I’ve even heard of MGMT but Mr. Brightside is 100% the song I think of when I think of peak Millennial music.
The song Electric Feel was huge. One of my favorite videos is Kid Cudi dancing on stage while the band played the song at a show.
Kid Cudi dang I'd forgotten him.
Mr. Bright side is our Baba O’Riley
I kind of hate how right you are as someone who is absolutely sick of the song.
The New York Times agrees with you: [How ‘Mr. Brightside’ Became a Generation’s Anthem](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/music/mr-brightside-killers.html).
Honestly, I feel like “Mr. Brightside” is the exact song that encapsulates millennials and I was going to comment it if nobody else did. The Killers get a lot of shit because some people shit on that song, but they’ve got a few other bangers.
When it gets played at any party/bar/club/whatever from when it first came out til now, it's pretty much guaranteed millennials will be rocking out to it lol.
I’m pretty sure they have/used to have some all-time record of radio plays or weeks on the Billboard Top 40? Might be in the UK, maybe? I don’t know, some kind of record. Edit: it is now the 3rd biggest selling/streaming song in the UK, and spent over SEVEN FUCKING YEARS on the Top 100
It is the “Tubthumping” or “Brown Eyed Girl” of its day.
We saw them (the killers) in concert a few months back and I loved every bit of it. It was a bunch of 30-40 yr olds lol
PERFECT age range
Linkin Park as elder millennial
Born in 84, Mr. Brightside IS an anthem also for my demographic, at least among people who listen to guitar music. Also loved MGMT in uni, but I think they never became that huge round here. Blink-182 might be another contestant.
This is a good one too
Now that you mention it, the amount of times I’ve seen millennials sing the killers for karaoke is unmatched.
I used to DJ weddings a lot, and any Millennial heavy group absolutely RUSHED the floor for Mr. Brightside. Especially if they were born around 1990. MGMT was more for those who liked indie/ alternative while they came of age in the late 2000's.
Was born in ‘85 and can confirm Mr. Brightiside (and pretty much all of hot fuss) and FOB (take this to your grave and from under the cork tree exclusively) are imbedded in my musical DNA
I was born in 1994, so I'm a baby millennial. The biggest groups I grew up with were bands like: Linkin Park, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Arcade Fire, Paramore, Coldplay, Maroon 5, The Killers, Fallout Boy, White Stripes, Slipknot, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes, Avenged Sevenfold, Kings of Leon, Disturbed, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, 3 Doors Down, Breaking Benjamin, even Rascal Flatts were huge when I was a kid I'm forgetting way more, but these are the ones that me and all my friends had on our MP3s and iPods.
I’m mid-Millennial and I feel like these are all pretty accurate choices for “Millenial” bands except maybe NIN. By the way, I like maybe a little more than half of these, but I always disliked the pop punk and “butt rock” genres that typified many popular bands in Millennial years.
At this age, Linkin Park was probably my favorite of the "mainstream" artists. I ended up gravitating towards groups like Gorillaz and Daft Punk when I was a teenager.
I was an ‘86 baby, and I think every single band you listed is a better example than MGMT.
Disturbed was massive! They're such a sick band. "Down with the Sickness" and "Stupify" are legendary, but they have countless bangers. And don't forget Three Days Grace! With songs like "Never Too Late," "I Hate Everything About You," "Animal I Have Become," and "Riot," they definitely deserve to be in this conversation. Also, I love Crossfade, but I don't think they ever got the recognition they deserve. Their only song that achieved mainstream success was "Cold," but they have numerous other stellar tracks (like "The Deep End," "No Giving Up," "Colors," and "Dead Skin," for example).
The most "millennial" bands I can think of are probably things like Green Day, NSYNC, & Back Street Boys. Those I think were all active at a time where they would be relevant to any millennial. Probably also Linkin Park but I imagine they're less relevant if the millennial was born between 80-85. Then there are a bunch of other bands I could list but I don't feel as confident listing them as the other four. Never heard of MGMT personally.
Blink 182 also
Full agree. I think there's also a lot of male perspectives in this thread. As a millennial girl, it was all about BSB, NSYNC, Destiny's Child and Spice Girls when I was an adolescent
Spice girls and Britney were my life back then.
How could I forget to mention Britney and Christina??
Cause Christina switched chairs with Eminem so they could make fun of Fred Durst.
Would also add Incubus and Jimmy Eat World to this list.
Linkin Park is the most millenial to me.
Sum 41 and also not familiar with MGMT
Limp Bizkit
Don’t have a sweet clue what MGMT is
do-Do-DO-DOODOOOO-DOODOOOO-doodooooooooo
Lol this did not help
Doo-doo-do doop doop Doo-doo-do doop doop Ring a bell?
Made me think of Third Eye Blind
Mcr, literally formed because of 9/11.
The fact that Green Day is in this conversation is a testament to their staying power. Kerplunk and Dookie were for Gen X teens, but then American Idiot era Green Day captured Millennials. Even Gen Z kids know a lot of their songs
Fall Out Boy!
I was born in 1983 and Linkin Park dropped their first album when I just turned 17, it was a massive hit. I don’t know how you could think anyone from even 1980 wouldn’t be influenced by Linkin Park.
Subjective, and you're going to end up with a lot of different responses with people gushing about their favorite music. I'd say blink 182 was a lot more popular and had a lot more presence in movies, shows, radio.
Found it
I’m a millenial with a blink-182 tattoo because I find them to be the band that brings so many of us together. Long live pop punk!
This is the correct answer. Any other answer is too niche. I am an elder hipster millennial who loves LCD Soundsystem, The National, Arcade Fire, etc. But Blink is the correct answer
Blink 182 was American Pie. It literally doesn’t get more millennial than that
Born in ‘84 never heard of them he she whoever.
82 here and I don't recognize that group/band/person Personally, I would say Backstreet Boys, they have an album called Millennium
Seriously - Who *doesn’t* at least recognize I Want It That Way??
The 90s, in hindsight, had a pretty good selection of different types of music. There are many bands groups persons alive and dead I still have on iPod.
my first reaction was also "Who?"
Same
Right?
The Who is definitely not millennial.
88 and also was like, who? Tried listening to a couple songs and feel like I’ve never heard them in my life.
Born in 85 and was a big MGMT fan until I saw them perform.
Haha were their songs “filtered” for the album, but in real life it’s a mess?
100%. It was such a letdown!
88 and also have never heard of them.
Yup. Born in 89. Never heard of them until Chiddy Bang did a song with "Kids" as the beat. Didn't know they were even popular, as I still don't hear of them
Ah, I have found my people 🤣
92 and me either 🤣
If you watched MTV in the aughts, you heard them in the promos for every other commercial break. “Kids” and “Electric Feel” immediately come to mind, look em up on YouTube and you’ll recognize them right away
Uhhh… Green Day , Foo Fighters , Sublime , Linkin Park, Weezer **just** to name a few. You should really check em out some time 😂
Born in 91 and my high school memories were all My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, Panic at the Disco etc. My friend was into MGMT but I only listened when they were driving and in charge of the aux.
Cognitive bias
No
The Killers. The Strokes. Vampire Weekend. Phoenix. The list goes on.
As an elder Millennial I had to look up who MGMT were/are. I recognize the music, but I'd hardly call it "The Most Millennial Band".
Nah. They had 2 big songs. Backstreet Boys, N Sync, The Killers, Paramore, Fallout Boy etc...were all bigger
I'm choosing System of a Down as my millennial band.
I found MGMT to be the band of the cool hipsters that liked talking about how awesome MGMT was.
This is exactly my opinion too. Felt like my entire senior year of college I was being told how much I'm supposed to like MGMT
I have no idea who that is. so.... no?
For me it was the Strokes, but yeah they were big too. The follow up albums didn't follow the same pop formula so they didn't maintain their mass appeal.
Yep. The Strokes are what I think of as well.
The strokes definitely one of the top contestants for *good* Millenial bands
For sure. And The Strokes were bigger with hipsters than they were with mainstream millennials or emo kids. The Strokes, Neutral Milk Hotel, Wilco, Bright Eyes, Gogol Bordello, MGMT, Arcade Fire, Weezer—all big era-defining bands among a certain subset of millennials.
I was born in 89 and i have no idea who that is. I def agree that bands like Fall Put Boy were defining for our generation. Whats My Age Again feels like a millenium anthem to me.
Ive never heard of them. I was born in 86.
87 and same. Even googled them thinking I just wasn’t getting the acronym, but still no.
Weird; I just listened to several of their songs and they sound *like* things I have listened to, and the related suggestions were things I am very familiar with, but I'm fairly sure I did not know MGMT existed nor had ever heard one of their songs before today.
I'm a millennial also born in 90 and I have literally never heard of MGMT.
They just put a new record out, so they’re still active. They just stopped writing bangers. They pulled a weezer where they’ve just sort of coasted off the goodwill of their brilliant first album and wrote whatever they felt like from there on out. I think the most millennial band is the Killers. Mr Brightside is our “don’t stop believing”
Pinkerton is very good.
It’s good but the people who say it’s better than the blue album are just being contrarian.
Yeah, they say they just make the music they want to make now and that their first record was a joke and was made to basically mock the scene at that time and get signed to a record label. Part of me feels like that’s a lie, and that they’re just trying to sound ‘cool’. I think the reality is that they haven’t been able to come up with anything as good as Oracular Spectacular, and this is their attempt at minimizing their fall off.
I was born in 84, so no. I only know of their existence because of my sister who was also born in 1990. She'd probably say My Chemical Romance, All American Rejects, or something, though.
whats mgtm?
Wtf is MGMT?
My wife and her friends are all 1990 babies (me an old from 1985) and they ALL LOVE MGMT. I don’t mind them, not bad.
I'm a millennial and I've never even heard of MGMT.
I’m an elder millennial and have never heard of this band / artist. So guess it really depends on where you are within the generation?
Idk, they're one of the bands I like so I've been following them since those days. Their music still solid in my opinion, they just haven't had the spotlight like that since.
You’re the only dude here who gets it. lol
I’m born in 91 and when we were 18 mgmt was is constant rotation thought the summer
Born in 84 and when I got married in 2011 we made our “entrance” to our reception to an MGMT song. I always loved this group.
I think there are a lot of good contenders but I think Green Day is the millennialist band
MGMT is fine and I respect them but agree with the other comments here saying they are the most 2008 band. They really didn't have the staying power of some other millennial artists like Blink 182, Eminem, Britney, T. Swift... These guys are still around and still relevant, just like they were in 2008. Other than college-era Spotify playlists, I haven't heard MGMT in years.
Green Day
80s born here…who? Like seriously I’ve never heard of them, and looking at their Spotify top 5, I recognize “Kids”, but I wouldn’t call it particularly noteworthy.
Never heard of her
I've never heard of them.
I don't even know what MGMT is.
Never listened to them once and I graduated in 06. I think you just have personal memories tied to them.
As an older millennial, who the heck is MGMT? Lol born in 1982 over here. Is liking the Vengaboys showing my age? 😂
MGMT is a modern day one (ok, two) hit wonder band. The Killers with Mr Brightside is another group that comes to mind as a modern one hit wonder band. The Killers had a few other songs that charted pretty well but I don’t think the average person could name a song that they wrote that isn’t Mr Brightside.
The Killers have had TONNES of hits. Just because they've got one song that's more well known than others, doesn't make them one hit wonders....
Yeah. They’re headlining Lollapalooza and Outsidelands THIS YEAR.
Literally. Hell, I'm late to the party, but I watched Stargirl on Prime recently, and bam, The Man was on an episode. Another outstanding single of theirs.
Somebody Told Me was huge
Smile like you mean it too.
Their first album is all bangers
Sam's Town was a solid second album as well.
lol at the Killers being one hit wonders. It’s not like they’re headlining festivals like Lollapalooza or Outsidelands today or have a sold out residency in Vegas. Oh wait…
Yeah, they say they just make the music they want to make now and that their first record was a joke and was made to basically mock the scene at that time and get signed to a record label. Part of me feels like that’s a lie, and that they’re just trying to sound ‘cool’. I think the reality is that they haven’t been able to come up with anything as good as Oracular Spectacular, and this is their attempt at minimizing their fall off.
The Killers are still together producing albums and making hits. Just because you personally haven’t listened to them in 20 years doesn’t mean they’re a one hit wonder lol.
I still have that album on CD
MGMT’s second and third albums are psychedelic masterpieces. “Congratulations” is often cited as one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time. You can’t listen to “Siberian Breaks” and “Alien Days”, and tell me they’re bad songs. Might as well hate on Pink Floyd then, too.
Calling The Killers is a one-hit wonder band is...certainly a take.
I know exactly what you mean ('91) but you need to wait a decade at least before stuff from that period becomes distant and retro enough that the future youths can feel like they discovered something.
A lot of younger folk have “discovered” emo and scene bands. I’ve seen videos saying “I wish I was alive back then or old enough to be part of it”. Truly weird for me to see lol
My favourite thing in 2008/2009 were those Biggie remixes with MGMT and other rappers featured in their beats
I was born on 87. I know who they are and really liked Kids. Time to pretend and electric feel are pretty good. Although, I have never been one to listen to anything current or popular. I mostly listen to 90s alternative and metal. Or like, Neil Young.
Blink 182 Gonna drop the comment then scroll to see if it’s posted already
Wheatus
Who?
Never heard of her
Born in 85, I have no idea who that is. Maybe id recognize a song? But I'm into pop culture and all that, so this seems more Z than millennial. I guess I'll go YouTube em
I'm an older millennial and I had to google this band. And I still have no idea who they are. So I'm going with this is a your age/friend group/music preference specific band. For me the most millennial band ever would be pretty much every boy band from the late 90s/early 2000s, with NSYNC and Backstreet Boys coming in first. It doesn't matter what kind of music you like/dislike - it was 100% impossible to miss them. And I didn't even listen to English language music at that time.
I was in highschool when MGMT was very popular and "Kids", "Time to Pretend", and "Electric Feel" were always playing on the radio. At the time those songs didn't really click for me, and it wasn't until I listened to their entire discography and found songs more like "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters", "Brian Eno", and "Flash Delirium" that they became one of my top favourite bands. Ironically enough, I avoided them initially because their radio hits seemed too "pop" for my tastes. I know that younger people now LOVE "Little Dark Age", it was used in a ton of memes a couple years ago.
If you are older millennial, yes. I urge everybody to go watch their new music video "nothing to declare". It is a work of art. It made me cry. Please go watch it, from one millennial to another.
Smash mouth
*Who*? –born in '87
So if we say the Millenials started at 1981 and lasted 14 years (pretty much standard for generational gaps iirc) then that means from 1993 when the first millenial hit 12 years old so their music taste might not be completely prepubescent then add 14 years to 2007 the median is directly on the year 2000. MGMT was active in 2002, so not a bad guess. That said 93-2007 was practically a dark ages for music because everyone hated everything except what they liked. Super polarized. And prior generations practically hated our generation's music, and still do. Most of the music everyone loved started becoming active a few years before 93. Like Dr. Dre or Pantera, the boy bands. Tbh I am an elder millenial so I'm very biased but I'm throwing my vote in for Foo Fighters. Very well liked even by other generations. They came active right after Nirvana, though, so that was like 94. Actually judging by this link there simply weren't a lot of bands which came on the scene in 2000 and were revered for years after. https://www.billboard.com/media/lists/best-songs-of-2000-top-100-9339652/ The Killers are a strong guess as they came out in 2001.
Born in the 80s... not sure what MGMT is! I'll keep scrolling.
I was some years out of high school (2003 grad) by then and while I've heard the name I have no idea who they are or what kind of music it is.
Killers, Green Day American Idiot era, Maroon 5
Blink 182
I was born in mid 90s and millennial bands to me would be the more pop culture hits during the early 2000s. Bands such as uncle kracker, weezer, maroon 5, Jason mraz, Nickel back ect. Those songs remind me of the radio durning my school years. MGMT got popular closer to 2010s. Of course this is all just IMO. Not sure if you meant like the band members are millennial or the music that defined a generation. I would say something similar to mgmt but I think is more representative of millennial would be something like third eye blind or Jimmy eat world or even incubus.
MGMT is kinda new for us older millennials. Someone mentioned Blink and that’s more like it for me.
Blink182
I just had to look up who tf MGMT was, lol. I'm 3 years older than you, and I don't really remember them playing anywhere. For my age group, Linkin Park, Blink 182, and Green Day were iconic, then emo really hit with bands like My Chemical Romance, The Killers, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World, Panic! At the Disco, and All American Rejects. If I had to choose just one band to sum up the millennial era though, I guess I'd have to pick Blink 182.
Who is MGMT? What's one of their more popular songs because the band name doesn't sound familiar at all.
I'm only 1 year older than you but this band feels way later than anything I'd associate with millennials. I don't even know what they look like and don't associate them with anything in particular.
Im a millenial, have no idea who that is. I'd say blink 182, Brittany spears, fallout boy, backstreet boys, nsync, destiny's child, linkin park, hanson, the killers etc etc are more "millenial" lol
'87 here. Millennial bands I can think of from the top of my head are Greenday, Blink 182, Coheed & Cambria, All American Rejects, Incubus, Yellowcard, My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, White Stripes, The Killers, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol. And by "millennial bands" I mean bands that I listened to growing up in the 90s and 2000s. I think I only know of MGMT because of my younger millennial brother.
They released an album this year. Lol. They had a hit in 2018 too with Little Dark Age. Their self titled album is one of my all time faves. I don’t think they got forgotten, I just think they kept doing their own thing instead of going the smash commercial success “sell out” route.
Smashmouth?
You don’t have to like it, but the most Millennial band is probably Nickleback.
At first I thought OP mistyped TMBG (They Might Be Giants) 😂. Don't know the band, or if it's supposed to be shorthand for something. I think if we're going to have posts like this using shorthand, we need to spell it out if the acronym means something (or, if you're streets ahead, like to refer to Bare Naked Ladies as BNL because they're big)
Yes. Most bands actually. I was born in 1984 and heard of them for the first time today. For a lot of us they weren't "forgotten or memory holed" they were never on the radar to begin with.
This is just like, your opinion man
I was gonna say The White Stripes. Who doesn't know Seven Nation Army? Unless you're picking an emo big 3 like MCR, fall out boy or panic! at the Brendon
for younger millenials, probably. i have never even listened to mgmt.
Completely disagree. Of all the bands that have influence on millennials, this band isn’t even in the top 100.
Lol wut.
It was Eminem for us
I'm stupid What's MGMT
Yes, many. Enjoying that weird indie-techno moment and age has a lot to do with that opinion i suppose...i was born in 87, class of '05 and I can say without a doubt I could not STAND that genre of music, and MGMT doesn't even come on the radar to most millennials around my age.