Of Montreal preview

Of Montreal
Riviera, Chicago
Tuesday, October 27, 2008

Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes explores every corner of his sexuality on Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl), named for the nocturnal hunting practice of flooding hiding places with light.

In any context, Skeletal would be jarring. But only a few years ago, Of Montreal were a precious, distant relative to the Elephant 6ers, so adorable they once named a best-of compilation Songles because they’d never before released a single. Barnes would be more likely to wear an Elmer’s paste necklace than a pearl one; when the term “gay” popped up it signified pastel elation.

But on the second half of last year’s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, Barnes introduced a Georgie Fruit alterego who’s best described in the Skeletal line, “I’m just a black she-male/And I don’t know what you people are all about.” Past innocence was thrown to the curb, and Georgie helped steer Fauna and Of Montreal to a long-delayed success and notoriety.

Skeletal‘s problem isn’t that it’s The Hidden Cameras’ The Smell Of Our Own crudely channeled through a Scissor Sisters-meet-Bobby Conn vortex, but once Fruit emerges he skeets in 50 directions at once. Devoid of the musical charms that have always been paramount in Of Montreal’s career, we’re almost literally stuck with Barnes’ libido: “We can do it softcore if you want/But you should know I go both ways.” It’s no pleasure being caught in the “Plastis Wafer” spin cycle, nor is it any joy navigating an orgy of falsetto bursts — all barely contained within conventional, three-minute limits.

Slowed down, Of Montreal occasionally hit upon futuro Beach Boys funk nuggets, but they go unexplored. Invariably, something completely left-field snatches Barnes’ attention and the following 90 seconds are spent chasing dead ends, with total indifference to the fact the album has a concept to attend to.

Sinkane open.

— Steve Forstneger

Click here to download “Id Engager.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly