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.
How Lester Lost His Wife
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Told by the picador
Then an Orwellian raping of a virgin apple core
An apple core, an apple core, an apple
Core, an apple core, an apple
Next our minds were supping up the horrors
That our vicious master's whip
Wickedly hip, wickedly hip, wickedly
Hip, wickedly hip, wickedly
I had to don a disguise to see her slinking down
The snaking hallways to her chamber
But I wasn't prepared to encounter the vision
Of she and it engaged in defiling of the sacred
In an instant her face became so plaintive
And I watched as she transformed
Into the Black Amaranth
The next morning I espied
In a window framed in brass
The story of her condemnation
Portrayed in the stained glass
In the stained glass
In the stained glass, in the stained
Glass, in the stained glass, in the stained
Glass
The song "How Lester Lost His Wife" by of Montreal is a dark and intricate story told through the powerful lyrics that paint a picture of disturbing scenes and emotions. The opening lyrics mention a bull and a picador along with an apple core. These seemingly random items and characters are used as metaphors to describe the cruelty and horror in the world around us. The fable of the bull represents the way that people are willingly led to their slaughter just as the bull is, while the apple core represents the devastation that plagues our world, and the Orwellian raping of it.
The following lyrics describe the evil that we willingly consume from our leaders in the form of rituals that are considered hip and fashionable but are truly disturbing and nefarious. The singer dons a disguise to see his wife in her chamber and witnesses her in the act of defiling something sacred. It is described as a transformation, and her face takes on a plaintive expression. The metaphorical transformation leads her to become the Black Amaranth. The following morning, the singer discovers the stained glass window that tells the story of his wife's condemnation.
The song speaks about the dark side of humanity and the horrors that lurk behind the scenes. It also speaks to the loss of love and how we can transform into something entirely different when we betray or are betrayed. The lyrics are intricate and layered with meaning, making it a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of music.
Line by Line Meaning
First there was the fable of the bull
The story begins with a fable about a bull.
Told by the picador
It was narrated by the picador.
Then an Orwellian raping of a virgin apple core
The next event was a disturbing reference to George Orwell's novel and a metaphorical sexual assault on an apple core.
An apple core, an apple core, an apple, Core, an apple core, an apple
This line repeats the previous metaphorical reference with additional emphasis.
Next our minds were supping up the horrors
After that, the audience was exposed to more horrifying stories.
That our vicious master's whip
These stories were being whipped up by a cruel leader.
Was serving us in rituals nefariously hip
These stories were presented in a way that seemed cool, but were actually evil.
Wickedly hip, wickedly hip, wickedly, Hip, wickedly hip, wickedly
This line repeats the idea of evil things being presented in a cool way.
I had to don a disguise to see her slinking down
The artist had to wear a disguise to secretly watch someone moving sneakily.
The snaking hallways to her chamber
This person was moving through winding hallways to a bedroom.
But I wasn't prepared to encounter the vision
However, the singer was not ready for what they saw.
Of she and it engaged in defiling of the sacred
They witnessed her desecrating something sacred with an unknown object.
In an instant her face became so plaintive
Suddenly, her expression became very sad and pleading.
And I watched as she transformed
The singer then witnessed her changing in some way.
Into the Black Amaranth
The transformation resulted in her becoming the Black Amaranth.
The next morning I espied
The next day, the artist saw something else.
In a window framed in brass
They saw it through a brass-framed window.
The story of her condemnation
They saw a representation of her being punished.
Portrayed in the stained glass
This representation was shown in stained glass.
In the stained glass
This line repeats the previous line with added emphasis.
In the stained glass, in the stained
This line further emphasizes that the punishment was shown in stained glass.
Glass, in the stained glass, in the stained Glass
This line builds on the previous one with even more repetition.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: KEVIN BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind