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.
Ira's Brief Life As a Spider
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
waving to each other clinging to their mothers
and smile at their dads
smile at their dads who say
Now that's a clever lad
One particular spider, who's parents had named Ira,
Since mother spiders give birth to so many babies at one time
it is exceedingly difficult to keep track of all of them
and sometimes a baby will get lost without it's mother ever being aware of its absence.
Ira was just such a case.
He crawled about for hours crying but his mother couldn't hear him for Ira was a mute.
This is where the story gets interesting.
He opened his mouth and discovered a lake in a crater on his tongue.
He was thirsty so he drank from the lake.
This proved to be a fatal mistake
as the lake was really a cake filled with poisonous snakes, and Ira died.
A nurse discovered dead baby Ira and sank with grief.
She gently lifted him up to her breast and carried him weeping to the head nurse
to see if any baby spiders had been reported missing.
The head nurse checked her missing baby spider file
and told her that No, no missing baby spiders have been reported.
The nurse holding dead baby Ira then asked if they could have a funeral for him.
The head nurse, being a very caring grasshopper,
agreed that that would be the proper thing to do.
So they dug a small hole near a yellow tulip, held a brief but moving requiem
and with great sadness buried baby Ira.
Miraculously, Ira was quickly reincarnated as a wild horse on the far off planet called Nearly.
on Nearly, wild horses hold the majority in the senate and Ira has discovered pudding.
His favorite is the kind without raisins.
All the baby spiders in the nursery
waving to each other clinging to their mothers
and smile at their dads
smile at their dads who say
Now that's a clever lad
The lyrics of "Ira's Brief Life As a Spider" by of Montreal tell a tragic and spiritual story about the life and death of a mute baby spider named Ira who got lost in the insect hospital. The song starts with a description of the nursery where all the baby spiders are happily waving to each other and clinging to their mothers. They smile at their fathers who are proud of their cleverness. However, Ira, who fell out of his mother's arms and became lost inside the hospital, was not so lucky. He cried for hours but couldn't communicate his distress as he was a mute spider. Then he discovered a lake in a crater on his tongue and drank from it, but it turned out to be a cake filled with poisonous snakes that killed him.
The story takes a spiritual turn when a nurse discovered Ira's body and asked for a funeral for him. The head nurse agreed, and they buried him with great sadness near a yellow tulip after a brief but moving requiem. However, Ira's journey doesn't end there as he was reincarnated as a wild horse on the far-off planet called Nearly. There, he has discovered pudding and enjoys eating the kind without raisins.
The song's lyrics use vivid and imaginative language and metaphorical creatures to convey a message of acceptance and comfort in the face of death, and the belief in the continuity of life.
Line by Line Meaning
All the baby spiders in the nursery waving to each other clinging to their mothers
A scene at the spider nursery, where the baby spiders were holding onto their mothers and waving at each other.
and smile at their dads smile at their dads who say Now that's a clever lad
The dads of the baby spiders were watching their children wave at each other and feeling proud of them.
One particular spider, who's parents had named Ira, fell out of his mother's arms and became lost inside the giant insect hospital.
Ira, a spider who was named by his parents, fell out of his mother's arms and got lost in the insect hospital.
Since mother spiders give birth to so many babies at one time it is exceedingly difficult to keep track of all of them and sometimes a baby will get lost without it's mother ever being aware of its absence.
Mother spiders give birth to multiple babies at once, making it challenging to keep track of all of them. Sometimes, a baby spider can get lost without its mother noticing.
Ira was just such a case. He crawled about for hours crying but his mother couldn't hear him for Ira was a mute. This is where the story gets interesting.
Ira was one such baby spider who got lost and started crying. However, his mother couldn't hear him since he was mute. This is where the story becomes engaging.
He opened his mouth and discovered a lake in a crater on his tongue. He was thirsty so he drank from the lake. This proved to be a fatal mistake as the lake was really a cake filled with poisonous snakes, and Ira died.
Ira found a lake in a crater on his tongue and drank from it to quench his thirst. Unfortunately, the lake turned out to be a cake filled with poisonous snakes, and Ira died after consuming it.
A nurse discovered dead baby Ira and sank with grief. She gently lifted him up to her breast and carried him weeping to the head nurse to see if any baby spiders had been reported missing.
A nurse found the dead baby spider, Ira, and felt extremely saddened by it. She picked him up and took him to the head nurse, hoping any missing baby spiders were reported.
The head nurse checked her missing baby spider file and told her that No, no missing baby spiders have been reported. The nurse holding dead baby Ira then asked if they could have a funeral for him.
The head nurse checked the records of missing baby spiders but could not find any. The nurse who found Ira then asked if they could organize a funeral for him.
The head nurse, being a very caring grasshopper, agreed that that would be the proper thing to do. So they dug a small hole near a yellow tulip, held a brief but moving requiem and with great sadness buried baby Ira.
The head nurse, who was a compassionate grasshopper, agreed to hold a funeral for Ira. They dug a small hole by a yellow tulip, had a short but emotional requiem, and buried Ira with a lot of sadness.
Miraculously, Ira was quickly reincarnated as a wild horse on the far off planet called Nearly. on Nearly, wild horses hold the majority in the senate and Ira has discovered pudding. His favorite is the kind without raisins.
Miraculously, Ira was reborn as a wild horse on a remote planet called Nearly. On this planet, wild horses had a majority in the senate, and Ira's newfound love for pudding, especially the raisin-free kind, made him happy in his new life.
Contributed by Juliana G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.