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The group were established in 1996 by Kevin Barnes, the only remaining musician from the original line up. The group's name refers to a failed relationship that Barnes experienced with a woman from Montreal. Using the experience to inspire him to create a band, he recruited Derek Almstead and Bryan Poole and together produced three albums during the latter end of the nineties.
of Montreal didn't receive much mainstream recognition until 2007 whilst signed to Polyvinyl Records. After spending the last three years attached to label and slowly growing in popularity, the band released "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?", their eighth project since their inception. Barnes recorded most of the material on this album with massive results as it entered the charts at #72.
Further albums proved to also be successful for the band, after they achieved back-to-back Top 40 albums with the 2008 release "Skeletal Lamping" and "False Priest" which entered the Billboard 200 at #34 in 2010; of Montreal's highest charting album to date.
of Montreal certainly possess an individual sound that differs quite drastically from bands that you see in the charts at the moment. Although you could vaguely describe them as a pop band, they combine elements from psychedelic music and electronic to create something that is well accepted by a wide audience yet has enough edge to impress a niche of alternative music lovers.
There is much more to expect from this unique collective with "Aureate Gloom", the 13th album in their discography, set to complete production in 2015.
I still remember the sight (and smell) of frontman Kevin Barnes stepping out of a coffin covered head-to-toe in shaving cream. This was in 2008, the first time I ever saw them- an experience that was enough to convert me from casual fan to fan for life. They can put on a show like no one else, a complete psychedelic onslaught of visual chaos... At their shows I have seen people in pig costumes humping in a blowup raft over the crowd, gold lamé buddhas, a two-person horse costume... I've also seen a mock crucifixion and hanging paired with an intense strobe light. Their shows are fun and exciting and very weird. I've also seen them perform some toned-down shows where beautiful projections of David Barnes' art is the main visual focus.
Despite the crazy skits going on the band still owns the stage somehow and Kevin Barnes is one of the most energetic performers I've seen. The band lineup is always evolving too, it is fun to see them change it up with the occasional addition of a second drummer, a sax, or violin.
Out of their 12 albums, they fit in material from 2005's 'Sunlandic Twins' onward in to their long sets. They play a really enjoyable balance of exciting favorites and rare treats. The epic and emotional 'The Past Is a Grotesque Animal' is a special one I've only seen a couple times. 'A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger' has been included perhaps every time I've seen them and never gets boring- especially since the climax of the song is always accompanied by a leaf blower contraption bombing the crowd with a cloud of feathers! I have left many of Montreal shows covered in feathers and always wear them home proudly.
bonesandbows
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