of Montreal is an indie pop band which formed in Athens, Georgia, United St… Read Full Bio ↴of Montreal is an indie pop band which formed in Athens, Georgia, United States in 1997. The band is fronted by Kevin Barnes, who writes, composes, and plays most of the music for his albums.
They were among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company and the group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to their interest in combining musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band’s style has been influenced by conventional indie pop, psychedelic music, vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae on their recent releases.
The band’s style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the “group” prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium.
Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.
A number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower occurred before the release of the band’s third album, The Gay Parade in 1999. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, it also featured artwork from Kevin’s brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.
This album marked that the band had moved to a fuller sound, which is also found on its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These two albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays.
After production on The Gay Parade began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band from Athens. Barnes also recruited Jamey Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, to play various instruments. Derek moved from drums to bass. The band was joined soon after by Marshmallow Coast’s Andy Gonzales.
Following the release of The Gay Parade, the band signed with Kindercore Records, who would release a number of singles and compilations. It wasn’t until 2001 that Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse would be released as a new album with original material. The album again featured contributions from across the Elephant 6 spectrum.
In 2002, Aldhils Arboretum was released, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors, as the songs were more directly structured. This album marks the beginning of the change in of Montreal’s sound, with more danceable rhythms than ever before, especially on the album’s closer, “Death Dance Of The Omipapas and Sons For You”. A successful tour ensued, including of Montreal’s first trip to the UK, along with a tour-only EP.
Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Arboretum, and of Montreal’s status was also threatened. Kevin got married, and Andy and Derek left the band. Barnes, being uncomfortable with the unrest, as well as some divisions within the band, took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it became one of their more successful efforts to that point. The 2004 tour saw The Late B.P. Helium (Bryan Poole) rejoin the band, with some bass played by Kevin’s partner Nina Barnes. The album marked a shift to something more electronic with traditional structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing. This style is featured in singles such as Disconnect the Dots. The style would continue to evolve into 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins, which was even more a Barnes solo effort. Recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles “So Begins Our Alabee” and the MTV clip for “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)”.
The band released several collections of singles in early 2006. Barnes recorded most of the band’s 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia. The switch to autobiographical themes of suicide, depression and isolation of the album was a direct product of his troubled personal life during that period.
of Montreal released Skeletal Lamping on October 21, 2008 followed by False Priest on September 14, 2010, Paralytic Stalks on February 7, 2012, and Lousy with Sylvianbriar on October 8, 2013. Aureate Gloom is scheduled for release by Polyvinyl Records on March 3, 2015.
Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as “Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl”, from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as “Jacques Lamure”, “The Autobiographical Grandpa”, “Mimi Merlot” and “Rose Robert”). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations (“Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage” and “Good Morning Mr. Edminton” as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the album Hissing Fauna: Are You The Destroyer? the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker.
Another unique quality of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. On Aldhils Arboretum, for example, the lyrics for tracks like “Doing Nothing” and “Old People in the Cemetery” focus on apathy, loneliness or death while being contrasted with cheerful instrumentation. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window” from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower.
True to the style of most Elephant 6 recording artists, of Montreal’s members have been in a variety of side projects and other bands:
The band itself has performed as the backing band for Marshmallow Coast on record and on tour.
My First Keyboard was the pseudonym used by Dottie Alexander to release the song “The You I Created” on the Kindercore singles club. of Montreal acted as her backing band.
They were among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company and the group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to their interest in combining musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band’s style has been influenced by conventional indie pop, psychedelic music, vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae on their recent releases.
The band’s style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the “group” prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium.
Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.
A number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower occurred before the release of the band’s third album, The Gay Parade in 1999. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, it also featured artwork from Kevin’s brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.
This album marked that the band had moved to a fuller sound, which is also found on its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These two albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays.
After production on The Gay Parade began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band from Athens. Barnes also recruited Jamey Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, to play various instruments. Derek moved from drums to bass. The band was joined soon after by Marshmallow Coast’s Andy Gonzales.
Following the release of The Gay Parade, the band signed with Kindercore Records, who would release a number of singles and compilations. It wasn’t until 2001 that Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse would be released as a new album with original material. The album again featured contributions from across the Elephant 6 spectrum.
In 2002, Aldhils Arboretum was released, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors, as the songs were more directly structured. This album marks the beginning of the change in of Montreal’s sound, with more danceable rhythms than ever before, especially on the album’s closer, “Death Dance Of The Omipapas and Sons For You”. A successful tour ensued, including of Montreal’s first trip to the UK, along with a tour-only EP.
Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Arboretum, and of Montreal’s status was also threatened. Kevin got married, and Andy and Derek left the band. Barnes, being uncomfortable with the unrest, as well as some divisions within the band, took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it became one of their more successful efforts to that point. The 2004 tour saw The Late B.P. Helium (Bryan Poole) rejoin the band, with some bass played by Kevin’s partner Nina Barnes. The album marked a shift to something more electronic with traditional structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing. This style is featured in singles such as Disconnect the Dots. The style would continue to evolve into 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins, which was even more a Barnes solo effort. Recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles “So Begins Our Alabee” and the MTV clip for “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)”.
The band released several collections of singles in early 2006. Barnes recorded most of the band’s 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia. The switch to autobiographical themes of suicide, depression and isolation of the album was a direct product of his troubled personal life during that period.
of Montreal released Skeletal Lamping on October 21, 2008 followed by False Priest on September 14, 2010, Paralytic Stalks on February 7, 2012, and Lousy with Sylvianbriar on October 8, 2013. Aureate Gloom is scheduled for release by Polyvinyl Records on March 3, 2015.
Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as “Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl”, from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as “Jacques Lamure”, “The Autobiographical Grandpa”, “Mimi Merlot” and “Rose Robert”). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations (“Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage” and “Good Morning Mr. Edminton” as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the album Hissing Fauna: Are You The Destroyer? the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker.
Another unique quality of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. On Aldhils Arboretum, for example, the lyrics for tracks like “Doing Nothing” and “Old People in the Cemetery” focus on apathy, loneliness or death while being contrasted with cheerful instrumentation. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window” from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower.
True to the style of most Elephant 6 recording artists, of Montreal’s members have been in a variety of side projects and other bands:
The band itself has performed as the backing band for Marshmallow Coast on record and on tour.
My First Keyboard was the pseudonym used by Dottie Alexander to release the song “The You I Created” on the Kindercore singles club. of Montreal acted as her backing band.
Disconnect the Dots / Knight Rider
of Montreal Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by of Montreal:
03 I Can't Stop Your Memory I can't stop your memory from breaking my heart. Devils…
20th Century Schizofriendic Revengoid-man I can't go to work today 'Cause I've forgotten how to…
A Celebration of H. Hare Dear sweet brother of mine I'm so glad you've made it You've…
A Collection of Poems About Water The crowd gathers the rain The crowd gathers Inside the ra…
A Dreamy Day of Day Dreaming of You You're my muse you're my silly goose and every day…
A Man Now a man loving a woman that's a very Common thing…
A Man' Life Flashing Before His Eyes While He And His Wife Drive Off ... I heard a human voice in an adding machine and…
A Question for Emily Foreman Emily do you think it's safe to guess That you'll be…
A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsv I spent the winter on the verge of a total…
Advice from a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage You should stay away from roses And be careful to avoid Ch…
Advice From A Divorced Gentlemen To His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage You should stay away from roses And be careful to avoid Choc…
Alter Eagle I went to Lille Saw "Clash of the Titans" Cracked the egg…
Aluminum Crown Troubled dreams, troubled dreams I've been cursed by trouble…
Ambassador Bridge When Sarah comes down, when Sarah comes down When Sarah come…
Amphibian Days In the pen with the mastiffs bred to fight rats…
An Eluardian Instance Does she know, does she know that I am not…
An Epistle To A Pathological Creep He'd explain to you but it would take too long Why…
An Ill The cats are clawing at the screen door The neighbors are…
An Introduction for Isabell I'd like to lntroduce you now to Isabell lam Present…
An Ode to the Nocturnal Muse I love to sleep I love my bed Cause it brings…
And I've Seen a Bloody Shadow Turning tricks on the hood of Jasmine's car That whole summe…
Apollyon Of Blue Room I'll jug with top globe and doomy locations And somebody's d…
Around the Way You say you just want to stand there and dim…
Art Snob Solutions What's up directors? Grab your knives! It's time to take all…
At Night Trees Aren't Sleeping Everything is falling apart, yes I am Watching me watch bird…
Authentic Pyrrhic Remission So much violence in my head, how are we still…
Baby I'm so glad I have you to think of, To channel…
Barely Asian at the Beefcake Horizon Went out looking for rainbows Staring at the gorilla I tho…
Bassem Sabry Look at our electric guitars And, if not for the good…
Belle Glade Missionaries Belle glade missionaries are here to steal your cocaine You…
Beware Our Nubile Miscreants You only like him because he's sexually appealing But I read…
Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden Lovers like us, lovers like us Don't cast coal into our…
Black Lion Massacre My creator appeared to me in the form of a…
Bonus Track: Keep Sending Me Black Fireworks Look in my eyes, what do you see? I'm hanging upside…
Born A Girl Tim, wish you were born a girl So I could've been…
Brush Brush Brush I, I brush my teeth everyday So I keep them clean…
Bunny Ain Saw her at Go kissing girls, what a shock I said…
Buried With Me Writing your name in the fog on my bedroom window Speaking…
butterscotching mr lynn I like you cause you look like a giraffe stretching…
Carmillas of Love 'Cause we are Carmillas Of Love, we will stay together,…
Cast in the Haze I'm happy today because I'm in love and feeling afraid Oh…
Cast in the Haze (Been There Four Days) i'm happy today because i'm in love and feeling afraid oh, i…
Casualty of You How could I tolerate looking you in the eyes How you've…
Cato As A Pun Cato, play with my head I won't know the difference If we're…
Celebration Of H. Hare Dear sweet brother of mine I'm so glad you've made it You'…
Chaos Arpeggiating Mountain City yellows They're not on the grounds they're in …
chap pilot Getting trolled by inanimate klaxons They'll leave me alone …
Charlie & Freddy Look, Charlie, all I'm saying is, she's nothing special. Wel…
Chrissie Kiss the Corpse On a bus stop bench sat an ancient lady It…
Chrissy Kiss the Corpse On a bus stop bench sat an ancient lady It…
Christmas Isn't Safe for Animals Is Christmas safe? Is Christmas safe? Is Christmas safe fo…
Chthonian Dirge For Uruk The Other Crowd and knitter of killers With their wild minded Apache p…
City Bird City bird haven't you heard Hasn't anybody told you? These c…
Climb the Ladder When I'm caught in a net and I haven't a…
Color Me In I am gray, still on the page Oh, color me in Just…
Colossus Your mother hung herself in the National Theater When she wa…
Colour Me In I don't wanna die in Jacksonville Don't wanna die in Omaha D…
Coquet Coquette Coquet coquette you know I won't forget How you kissed me…
Coquet Coquette. Coquet coquette, you know I won't forget How you kissed me…
Cutie Pie You are my cutie pie, my cutie pie, yes you…
Death Dance I want to dance so I don't have to think…
Death Is Not a Parallel Move [Repeat: x3] All of my thoughts are from a foreign host No…
Death Isn't A Parallel Move [Repeat: x3] All of my thoughts are from a foreign host Now…
Death of a Shade of a Hue Over a sea of grief Scarlet died Above her dying mind…
Death of a Shade of Hue Over a sea of grief Scarlet died Above her dying mind…
Deliberate Self-harm Ha Ha The treatment, it did nothing for me Nothing I recall I'd fe…
Derailments in a Place of Our Own So she's depressed And I am losing my mind, It's so diffic…
Disconnect the Dots Come disconnect the dots with me, poppet! Come disconnect th…
Disguises I used to know everything about you But today when I…
Doing Nothing Nothing, we're doing nothing Just sitting and wondering why …
Don't Ask Me To How will I ever know you enough to love you If…
Don't Ask Me to Explain How will I ever know you enough to love you If…
Don't Let Me Die In America I don't wanna die in Jacksonville Don't wanna die in Omaha D…
Dont Ask Me to Explain How will I ever know you enough to love you If…
Dour Percentage We've woken up alone No song to sing us off the…
Dour Percentages We've woken up alone No song to sing us off the…
Dreamy Day of Daydreaming of You You're my muse you're my silly goose and every day…
Du Og Meg She fell in love with a boy who spoke a second…
Dustin Hoffman Thinks About Eating The Soap If you wanna be a good monster Don't swallow mine It's all…
Easy To Sleep When Your Dead It's easy to sleep when you're dead but you're unable…
Emily Emily do you think it's safe to guess That you'll be…
Empyrean Abattoir Winter isn't much here, just a flinching centigrade Though t…
Enemy Gene Aren't you sick of the con, not quite, hold on…
Eros All I ever get is sad love While watching all my…
Erroneous Escape Into Eric Eckles The octopus in your purse is cursing like an evil sailor B…
Estocadas Natives have a name for me but I can't remember…
Events Leading Up to the Collapse of Detective Dulllight There was jello in the fingerprints detective dulllight disc…
Everyday Feels Like Sunday Everyday feels like Sunday baby everyday feels so good Every…
Everything About Her Is Wrong Everything about her is wrong She's the kind of creep that…
Everything Disappears When you come around, everything else disappears. My ears di…
Excorsismic Breeding Knife There's flash of dead eyed in these horse faced hours…
Expecting to Fly Anything we should know about your change? There you stood…
Faberge Falls For Shuggie Those with the golden axe have tried to tell me What…
Family Nouveau It's crazy to think how I was living like prisoner, But…
Famine Affair I don't want you anymore I don't love you anymore Go away,…
Feminine Effects Bobby, baby, you make me blurry So blurry inside I know I'…
Flunkt Sass Vs. The Root Plume I discovered so much from my last trance Dogs running in…
For Our Elegant Caste [Chorus: x2] We can do it soft-core if you want But you…
Forecast Fascist Future The language of the frost lobs dead balloons over ruins…
Friends of Mine When we're all in a crowd And you catch her eye And…
Fugitive Air I do wrong, strictly speaking, just for myself Because it ma…
Fun Loving Nun She's not quite like the Conventional sister no she's not I'…
Gallery Piece I wanna be your love I wanna make you cry And sweep…
Gelid Ascent You are what parasites evolved from Still an unanswered ques…
Georgie's Lament I can only get it up for you It doesn't work…
Get God's Attention By Being an Atheist Contextualizing the metal bibliotheque, as if to say, "I am…
Girl From NYC I'm such a vulnerable lad With nothing to protect me From yo…
Girl Named Hello Who's your reggae woman now, do you even know? I did…
Go Call You Mine Something propels me, something compels me to say. How oft…
Godly Intersex Too high, too fast, going to break our necks Everything abou…
Good Morning Mr Edminton Good morning Mr. Edminton Mr. Edminton how are you feeling …
Good Morning Mr. Edminton Good morning Mr. Edminton Mr. Edminton how are you feeling t…
Grolandic Edit (The surrealists were just) Nihilists with good imaginations…
Gronlandic Nihilists with good imaginations I am satisfied hiding in o…
Gypsy That Remains Suddenly, we're dolphins in the sea of love and I'm…
Happy I am a happy yellow bumble bee, I fly around…
Hegira émigré Up in the hills they are Having a white riot…
Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse I'm in a crisis, I need help Come on mood shift,…
Hello from Inside a Shell Hello from inside a shell you can see me cause…
Hindlopp Stat I want to live in an elephant coma I want a…
Holiday Call [Repeat: x2] Is that you, my Lord Hands on my knee, my…
Honeymoon in San Francisco Honeymoon in San Francisco, what a grand idea We'll rent a…
Honeymoon In Sanfrancisco Honeymoon in San Francisco, what a grand idea We'll rent a…
Hopeless Opus or the Great Battle of the Unfriendly Ridiculous Let's reminisce of our first dance together Along the ocean …
How Lester Lost His Wife First there was the fable of the bull Told by the…
Hydra Fancies How about you, my new favorite thing I hardly know, don't…
I Believe in You You remind me of a snowflake That falls while comets…
I Can't Stop Your Memory I can't stop your memory from breaking my heart. Devils…
I Feel Ya Strutter I see you girlfriend I got so lucky wit' you Yes, I…
I Felt Like Smashing My Head Through A Clear Glass Window All day long I felt like Smashing my face through a…
I Want to Have Fun I just want to have fun Don't want to come down I…
I Was A Landscape In Your Dream What kind of comedy is this all of the danger…
I Was Never Young I was never young, even as a child Said, I was…
I Was Watching Your Eyes I want to write something beautiful, Something so beautiful…
I'd Be a Yellow Feathered Loon I'd be a yellow feathered loon for you baby Be a…
Id Engager (Oh yeah) (Is my cord dragging in the water?) (Looks good!) …
If I Faltered Slightly Twice If I faltered slightly twice singling a double or Botching a…
If You Feel You Must Go Don't Go! I love you completly. Please I don't want you to go,…
If You Talk to Symbol/Hostility Voyeur If you talk to Symbol, tell her I've moved on I'm…
Ill-Treated Hiccup The cats are clawing at the screen door The neighbors are…
Imbecile Rages Your folks they are Such lovely people I can't understand Wh…
In Dreams I Dance With You You remind me of a snowflake That falls while comets…
In the Army Kid Riding to the station on the bus Cause I want to…
Inner Light I've heard about inner light it makes the Brown in your…
Inside a Room Full of Treasures a Black Pygmy Horse's Head Pops Up Like a Periscope There's a hole in my sock Where my shoe always bites…
Internecine Larks When we met in the kitchen it was like kissing…
Introduction I'd like to lntroduce you now to Isabell lam Present…
Ira's Brief Life As a Spider All the baby spiders in the nursery waving to each other…
Island Life Rubicon forms drying on them Boys prick boy dare I say Remot…
Isn't It Nice Isn't it nice living out in the country? It's so nice…
Isn't It Nice? Isn't it nice living out in the country? It's so nice…
It's a Very Starry Night It's a very starry night though the moons not very…
it's different for girls It′s different for girls They've got sensitive language They…
It's Easy to Sleep When You'r It's easy to sleep when you're dead but you're unable…
It's Just So I don't wonder why I love you I don't have…
and many more tracks by of Montreal.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found