The Vine album review: of Montreal – ‘False Priest’, December 2010
An album review for The Vine. Excerpt below.
of Montreal – False Priest
Central to this band’s attraction throughout their 14-year history has been the sense that they’re not entirely of this planet. Ringleader Kevin Barnes and his cohorts exist on an artistic plane draped in sexual decadence beyond the experiences of the everyman. This permeating mood of the vaguely pornographic makes of Montreal’s music appeal on some base level of voyeurism (or, perhaps more accurately, escapism). In that sense, not much has changed with the release of False Priest, their tenth album. Just how Barnes’ constantly-flitting mind – and output – works remains a mystery, and so compelling enough to comfortably spend 53-odd minutes in the company of he and his bandmates.
These thirteen tracks from the Athens, Georgia-based collective skirt myriad genres, all loosely connected to the ever-vague nucleus of indie rock. The band navigate the likes of camp disco (album opener ‘I Feel Ya Strutter’), skewed electronica (‘Godly Intersex’), bass-heavy seductive funk (‘Like A Tourist’), piano-led introspection (‘Casualty Of You’), and even a rare detour into open-chord arena rock bravado (lead single ‘Coquet Coquette’). For the most part, they’re not just coherent, but commanding in their adaptability.
Barnes’ lyrical imagery ranges from weird (“I don’t wanna catch you with another guy’s face under your eyelids”, in ‘Coquet Coquette’) to weirder (“We danced for miscarriages”, in ‘Godly Intersex’). He’s an eloquent songwriter, to the point where occasionally obvious rhymes can be excused (“Whatever your eyes caught, I bought / Still we fought / Like Ike and Tina, but in reverse, ‘cause you’re so…” in ‘Crazy Girl’).
Full review at The Vine. More of Montreal on MySpace. The music video their song ‘Coquet Coquette‘ embedded below.