Of Montreal is an American indie pop band formed in Athens, Georgia. Fronted by Kevin Barnes, it was among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company.
The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the "group" prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of the Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium. Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Ate the Rabbit's Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy. After production on The Gay Parade began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band from Athens. Barnes then recruited Jamey Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, to play various instruments. Derek moved from drums to bass. The band was joined soon after by Marshmallow Coast's Andy Gonzales.
Style
The group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to its interest in combining musical experimentation and the basic tenets of pop, such as catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band's style has been influenced by not only more conventional indie pop and psychedelic music, but also by vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae in their more recent releases. The band's style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. Later the band moved to a fuller sound, as seen on the concept albums The Gay Parade, and its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays. 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic marked the result of an evolving change in style. The sound shifted to something more electronic with traditional structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing. Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as "Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl", from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as "Jacques Lamure", "The Autobiographical Grandpa", "Mimi Merlot" and "Rose Robert"). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations ("Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage" and "Good Morning Mr. Edminton" as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the band's 2007 album Hissing Fauna: Are You the Destroyer?, the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker. Another unique quality of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. On Aldhils Arboretum, for example, the lyrics for tracks like "Doing Nothing" and "Old People in the Cemetery" focus on apathy, loneliness or death while being contrasted with cheerful instrumentation. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono's "I Felt Like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window" from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower.
Discography
Studio albums
* 1997 Cherry Peel (Bar/None)
* 1998 The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy (Kindercore)
* 1999 The Gay Parade (Bar/None)
* 2001 Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse (Kindercore)
* 2002 Aldhils Arboretum (Kindercore)
* 2004 Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl)
* 2005 The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl)
* 2007 Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl, #72 US)
* 2008 Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl, #38 US)
Compilations
* 2000 Horse & Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed): The Singles and Songles Album (CD, Bar/None)
* 2001 The Early Four Track Recordings (CD, Kindercore)
* 2001 An Introduction to Of Montreal (LP, Earworm)
* 2003 If He Is Protecting Our Nation, Then Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children? (CD, Track & Field)
* 2003 Ghetto Kitty Island Records Compilation (7", Split with Chicken on a Raft, Bart Davenport, and The Minders, Ghetto Kitty Island Records)
* 2004 The Gladiator Nightstick Collection (LP, Devil in the Woods)
* 2006 Satanic Twins (limited edition LP/digital release, Polyvinyl)
* 2006 Of Montreal Sampler (free promo CD, Polyvinyl)
EPs
* 1997 The Bird Who Ate the Rabbit's Flower (CD, Kindercore)
* 1997 The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower (CD, Kindercore)
* 2006 Deflated Chime, Foals Slightly Flower Sibylline Responses (CD, Polyvinyl)
* 2007 Icons, Abstract Thee (CD, Polyvinyl)
* 2007 Sony Connect Set (digital, Sony Connect/Polyvinyl)
* 2009 An Eluardian Instance aka The Jon Brion EP (CD, 12", Polyvinyl)
Singles
* 1998 "Nicki Lighthouse" (7", 100 Guitar Mania)
* 1999 "Happy Happy Birthday To Me Singles Club: November" (7", Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records)
* 2000 "Archibald of the Balding Sparrows" (7", Kindercore, Split with Marshmallow Coast))
* 2001 "Kindercore Singles Club: September" (7", Kindercore, Split with Ladybug Transistor))
* 2001 "Split With the Late B.P. Helium" (7", Jonathan Whiskey)
* 2003 "Jennifer Louise" (7", Track & Field)
* 2004 "I Was a Landscape in Your Dream" (7", Harvest Time Recordings)
* 2006 "Microuniversity" (7", Park the Van)
* 2006 "Voltaic Crusher"/"Undrum to Muted Da" (7", Suicide Squeeze)
* 2006 "She's a Rejecter" (7", Polyvinyl)
* 2007 "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" (CD, Polyvinyl)
* 2007 "Suffer For Fashion" (CD, Polyvinyl)
* 2007 "Gender Mutiny Tour" (7", Polyvinyl)
* 2008 "Id Engager" (7", Polyvinyl)
* 2008 "Cause We Were Virgins to Your Kisses" (7" picture disc with DVD, Heartfast)
Soundtracks
* 2005 Music from the OC: Mix 5 (Warner Bros./Wea)
* 2006 Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Volume 2
* 2008 Cloverfield
Posts
0 comments