MGMT fans rejoice: not only is “Bubblegum Dog” real, but is now available to stream in full.
A meme of sorts for MGMT fans since they released their 2018 album, Little Dark Age, “Bubblegum Dog” first entered public consciousness through a 2016 Periscope livestream that revealed the titles of several songs the band was working on at the time. Fans then expected it to be included on Little Dark Age, but when it wasn’t, it earned legendary status in the MGMT fan community.
In the years since, the band has joked about the song, tweeting that “Bubblegum Dog is real” and humorously referring to it as a 30-minute-long, multi-part project. Even earlier this year, the band’s Ben Goldwasser joked on Reddit that Loss of Life would “be nearly three hours long to account for ‘Bubblegum Dog’ being an hour.”
In actuality, “Bubblegum Dog” spans only about four-and-a-half minutes. It begins as an acoustic track, and blossoms into a mid-tempo indie rock bop with punchy drums, a fuzzed-out bottom end, and a dissonant piano line adding color throughout. The song’s corresponding visual is directed by Julia Vickerman and Tom Scharpling and references classic videos from the ‘90s. Watch below.
“We all saw the video for ‘Bubblegum Dog’ as an opportunity to combine the charming, DIY, surreal, cardboard craft aesthetic of shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and The Mighty Boosh with these ultra-serious grunge videos we grew up watching on MTV — all that heavy, brooding angst smashed up against absurd childlike fun,” Vickerman and Scharpling said in a statement. “Ben and Andrew are legitimately funny guys, so we were excited they got to really go for it with their acting, paying homage to the eternally moody mid-90’s rock stars they looked up to when they were kids. They were completely game for everything.”
Even though we now know that the extended-runtime claims aren’t true, that hasn’t stopped the band from still having some tongue-and-cheek fun with the release. On Instagram, they shared a three-part post depicting a cartoon dog driving towards a pink birthday cake, with the caption: “Bold Guy Driving! If found, please call 618-861-6327. Thank you!” When called, the number sends you to a new age-y recording, providing you with further information on the “pursuit of canine wisdom” and thanking you for the inquiry.
“Bubblegum Dog” is the latest preview of MGMT’s new album, Loss of Life, which is due out on February 23rd via Mom + Pop. Some physical copies will even come with a limited-edition plush toy of the Bubblegum Dog itself. Pre-orders are ongoing.
MGMT began teasing Loss of Life in January 2023, describing it at the time as a “fancy new album.” In September, the band indicated that the project was nearly completed, and last month, they finally announced it and shared the lead single, “Mother Nature.”
