MiS | Moving in Stereo

I lived in Athens, Georgia for more than two years and managed to miss countless Of Montreal concerts. I didn’t own any of the band’s CDs at that time, and always tried harder to get to an Elf Power show. Now, years later, I still haven’t seen Kevin Barnes and Co., even though I’ve heard quite a lot about their shows from Dave and Jason. Ironically, since I’ve recently been listening to the new Apples in Stereo CD, I think I originally dismissed Of Montreal as too Apples-like; sunshine pop, with likely more sheen than substance. Great pop with little staying power. I was wrong of course. The Sunlandic Twins is one of my favorite albums from the last five years, and it hardly left my CD carousel for over a year. The lyrics from “The Party’s Crashing Us” are as memorable as they come in pop music. Black wizards, suburbs, and fucking. What else is there?

It was hard for me to turn my attention to the band’s new effort, Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer? It’s more abrasive, less melodic at first listen, and has a song over 11 minutes. It’s also depressing lyrically. What happened? There’s nothing Sunlandic here. The travails of singer/songwriter Barnes have been well documented in the press of late, and he even sings about it in “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger”: “I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway/I felt the darkness of the black metal bands/But being such a faun of a man.” The lyrics here could be mistaken as those of a Scandinavian black metal band, e.g. Lordi, the Finnish winners of Eurovision 2006. It’s a standout track, among many. An album of demon pop. Personal demons that is, tails of separation and angst, and lives in turmoil. Still, you will find yourself wanting to move to the beats wherever you are. A month with this stellar album and the new Shins, makes for a very special month of pop music.

——————
Check ‘em out…and see them in concert!

http://www.myspace.com/ofmontreal