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.
Estocadas
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some fucker took what's mine and now he's acting like she's his
Your shifty friend gave you a cactus for a gift
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Such a stupid offering, what it's meant to symbolize?
Hostile immobility, is that something to prize?
Floodlights generate a hum, render sleeping [?] myth of man
The morning finds me alive with my face pressed in a glass door
This summer's been nothing but rain
Nature is writhing in her own filth again
Took the bus to Plaza de toros on a dare
You cried all through the bullfight and cursed me for taking you there
Riding back in silence to the hostel thinking only
Only estocadas
The morning finds me alive with my face pressed in a glass door
This summer's been nothing but rain
Nature is writhing in her own filth again
In "Estocadas," of Montreal's frontman Kevin Barnes explores themes of identity, ownership, and power dynamics through a series of surreal images and fragmented narratives. The opening lines, "Natives have a name for me but I can't remember what it is / Some fucker took what's mine and now he's acting like she's his," hint at a sense of dislocation and cultural displacement, as the singer feels disconnected from his own heritage and history. The use of gendered pronouns also adds a layer of complexity to the song's exploration of ownership and possession.
The lyrics then shift to focus on a cactus given as a gift, which is described as a "stupid offering." The symbolism of the cactus is unclear, but it is suggested that it represents a sense of hostility and immovability. This is contrasted with the image of floodlights generating a "hum," which suggests a more dynamic and powerful source of energy.
The final verses describe a trip to a bullfight, which leads to the refrain of "only estocadas." "Estocadas" is a Spanish term for the sword thrust that kills the bull in bullfighting, and its repeated use underscores the song's themes of power and domination. The final lines, "This summer's been nothing but rain / Nature is writhing in her own filth again," suggest a sense of ecological decay and the consequences of unchecked power and exploitation.
Line by Line Meaning
Natives have a name for me but I can't remember what it is
I have been given a nickname by the locals, but I cannot recall what it is.
Some fucker took what's mine and now he's acting like she's his
Someone has taken something that belongs to me and is now pretending it belongs to them.
Your shifty friend gave you a cactus for a gift
Your deceitful friend presented you with an insensible gift of a cactus.
Such a stupid offering, what it's meant to symbolize?
This silly gift makes no sense, what is it intended to signify?
Hostile immobility, is that something to prize?
Is a lack of progress and aggression something that should be valued?
Floodlights generate a hum, render sleeping [?] myth of man
The steady sound of the floodlights gives rise to the sleeping beliefs of men.
The morning finds me alive with my face pressed in a glass door
I wake up in the morning with my face resting against a glass door, but I am still alive.
This summer's been nothing but rain
It has been raining constantly throughout the summer season.
Nature is writhing in her own filth again
The environment is once again suffering from pollution and waste.
Took the bus to Plaza de toros on a dare
I accepted a challenge to travel by bus to the Plaza de toros.
You cried all through the bullfight and cursed me for taking you there
You shed tears throughout the bullfight and blamed me for bringing you to this event.
Riding back in silence to the hostel thinking only
We travel back to the hostel in silence, focusing only on
Only estocadas
the concept of deadly sword thrusts known as estocadas.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: KEVIN BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ian Heimbigner
Definitely awesome, especially cause he recorded this album playing all the instruments solo.
AshleenWoods
Love this song! Actually...love the whole album!
SugarW1thC0ffee
Kevin Parker took the beginning part and played it on the end of Gossip
dogpd3
I can tell this comes from Lousy With Sylvianbriar sessions. It's definitely beatles-eque.