Welcome to the Pitchforkast. Here, your friendly Pitchforkast team (YFPT) will attempt to predict the Pitchfork rating for albums that have not yet appeared on that Web site. Note: Ratings estimates are arrived at through expert guesswork.

TODAY: MGMT, Congratulations—leaked March 2010; out April 13.

Two things you should know: One, YFPT loves—loves!—the title of the new MGMT album. Is it a cheeky reference to the solid taste in music that the band thinks you’ve displayed when you go out and purchase (or download, heh) the album? Is it a pat on the back for a self-deemed job well done? Is it a handshake to be received once you’ve made it through the 12-minute opus the band’s stuck smack dab in the middle of the album?

Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Nope. Despite our best efforts, our zen approach to shining up our crystal ball has drawn a blank.

Maybe this’ll help?

Nope.

Here’s the thing, this new MGMT album is pretty great. But on it, the band—which, you’ll remember, had “Kids” blew all the fuck up a couple years back—has trended away from its electro side and toward its proggish psych-pop side—a move that may make things a bit less radio-ready then they were the last time out. We salute that.

And we’d like to think that Pitchfork will agree. But, back in ’07 reviewer Eric Harvey told the band that “electro-glam seems the ideal toward which” they should strive. Along with that pat on the noggin, he gave the band a 6.8.

And that brings us to two: To be frank, we also would have missed the MGMT turn-around.

Perhaps a mea culpa is in order?

So (things becoming clearer now). A-hem: YFPT is calling for an 8.2, and a positively glowing review that extols the band’s newfound sophistication.