CD review: Of Montreal
By Casey Gillis on Oct. 29, 2008
By Blair Amberly
ARTIST: Of Montreal
ALBUM: ‘Skeletal Lamping’
LABEL: Polyvinyl
REVIEWER RATING: 2.5 out of 5
Kevin Barnes, frontman of Georgia-based Of Montreal seems set on becoming indie-rock’s next musical icon. The recent media blitz shows him wearing red lipstick, a colorfully painted face and for the most part unclothed. He has always stood out as eccentric but with Of Montreal’s newest album, “Skeletal Lamping,” Barnes is trying to achieve a balance between Prince and Bowie with both music and public image. Unfortunately, his recent music is far from legendary.
Of Montreal’s 2007 release “Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?” saw the band taking a large leap into electronic-pop compositions which were quite refreshing and satisfying. “Skeletal Lamping” pushes their sound even more to indie-glam-pop with heavy synth use, electronic drum programming, horn bursts and Barnes’ seductive choruses.
“Skeletal Lamping” is experimental in its erratic shifts with so many different directions within each of these 15 songs that it is often hard to tell if you are listening to the same track. The only consistent thing throughout this album is Barnes’ obsession with sexual innuendo and sugary electro-pop. While being similar in theory to Prince’s music, “Skeletal Lamping” is much more forced and two-dimensional than its predecessor.
Barnes’ comfort with full disclosure can be both empowering and awkward. His lyrics range from playfully sexual to uncomfortably sexual. Sex sells but overly simplified promiscuous demonstrations can reach the point of redundant stupidity.
“Gallery Piece” perfectly sums up Barnes’ conflicted views of love and pleasure. He sings, “I wanna make you proud and play with your head. I wanna take you out, make you feel adored … I wanna hurt you bad, make you paranoid, and say the sweetest things.”
There is no doubt that there is fun woven throughout this album in both physical and emotional pleasure. Some of Barnes’ hooks are infectiously uplifting and certain parts of songs peak into danceable pop perfection (most notably in “An Eluardian Instance”). Sadly, the moments of brilliance are so brief and scattered that it does little to make “Skeletal Lamping” as excellent as past Of Montreal records.
Amberly operates Speakertree Records
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