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.
Doing Nothing
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just sitting and wondering why nothing's happening
Everyone was there in a wooden chair doing nothing
Still doing nothing, drinking smoking
Nothing's happening
No one seems to care in their wooden chair
Doing nothing
Underneath a moldy sky
Thinking â??yes I think this place
Would be such a lonely place to die,
Such a lonely place to die"
Nothing we're doing nothing
Literally frozen stiff from nothing happening
Something has to change
Cause it's no longer feeling strange
To do nothing Ad nauseam nothing
And feeling acutely every millisecond pass
We can ignore that this is sad
Because we know that it all adds up to nothing
I go walking though the park
Underneath the moldy sky
Thinking about all the different ways that would make lonely ways to die
All the lonely ways to die
The lyrics of "Doing Nothing" by of Montreal are both surreal and introspective. The song speaks to the feeling of being stuck and aimless in life, with a sense of detachment from the world around us. The opening lines of the song are almost self-deprecating, with the singer admitting that they are doing nothing and wondering why nothing is happening.
The chorus of the song repeats this sentiment, with the singer and their friends sitting in wooden chairs, smoking and drinking, while feeling a sense of stagnation. In the second verse, the singer continues to express their sense of malaise, imagining the park as a lonely place to die. However, there is also a hint of resignation in the lyrics, as the singer acknowledges that this feeling of nothingness is not going to change anytime soon.
Overall, "Doing Nothing" is a deeply reflective song that captures the sense of ennui and disillusionment that can come with modern life. Through surreal imagery and introspective lyrics, the song speaks to the human condition of feeling stuck and disconnected, while also hinting at the possibility of change and growth.
Line by Line Meaning
Nothing, we're doing nothing
We are just idle with no particular activity.
Just sitting and wondering why nothing's happening
We are sitting without any action and wondering why there is no progress.
Everyone was there in a wooden chair doing nothing
Everyone was sitting in a chair, doing nothing but still not doing anything about their situation.
Still doing nothing, drinking smoking
We are still not doing anything productive but engaging in drinking and smoking.
Nothing's happening
There is no progress or development in our situation.
No one seems to care in their wooden chair
Everyone seems to be uninterested while being idle.
Doing nothing
Still not engaging in any meaningful activity.
I go walking through the park
I walk through the park as a way to pass the time.
Underneath a moldy sky
The sky is unpleasant and uninviting, making me feel down.
Thinking - Yes I think this place would be such a lonely place to die, such a lonely place to die
I realize that if I were to die in this place it would be a lonely experience, considering the desolate surroundings.
Literally frozen stiff from nothing happening
We are so idle that we are becoming immobilized, rendering us incapable of taking action.
Something has to change
We recognize that our current state is unsustainable and needs to be altered.
Cause it's no longer feeling strange to do nothing
Doing nothing is starting to feel natural and not uncommon.
Ad nauseam nothing
The endless repetition of doing nothing is becoming nauseating.
And feeling acutely every millisecond pass
Despite not doing anything meaningful, we are aware of every second that is going by.
We can ignore that this is sad
We are aware that our situation is depressing, but choose to not let it affect us.
Because we know that it all adds up to nothing
We are aware that our idleness and lack of action will lead to no progress or development in our current state.
Thinking about all the different ways that would make lonely ways to die
While walking in the park, I contemplate different ways in which I could potentially die, and realize that they would all be lonely experiences.
All the lonely ways to die
I realize that all the variations of my potential death scenarios would result in a lonely and desolate experience.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: KEVIN BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind