It was painted by “lowbrow” artist Anthony Ausgang, who met MGMT while they were recording “Congratulations” at a very large house in Malibu.

Not being a musician I was occasionally left to my own devices so I would sit around and draw on pieces of paper then leave them there when I went home. I got along well with the band and gave them copies of my book, Vacation From Reality. Later, Josh Cheuse, the art director from Sony, contacted me once the recording was finished. The most important thing was that MGMT wanted the “look” of my style of painting and gave me only a few points that I had to hit. (ed: itchy & scratchy. surfboard. 8 eyes. go?) Naturally the process took some time but they were always cool with the criticisms. A lot of people who commission a painting only know what they don’t want; fortunately MGMT knew what they wanted and let me do it my way.

Pitchfork adds, “According to insiders, Congratulations features flutes, at least one 12-minute song, and is generally out there. And, according to this pre-order page, the special edition of the album features a “scratch off front cover with custom metal coin.” We’re pretty sure these dudes are just fucking with us at this point.”

Here’s hoping for a scratch-n-sniff sticker on the plastic.

Boing Boing