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.
Obsidian Currents
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Live beyond good and evil
Amputated from humanity
On some lifelong intellectual retreat
Everything is conceptual and
All is rhetorical
You can feel so powerful
When you're forced to face the physical world
You scurry like an insect
There is a virus in your tenets
Don't be naive, you know it's true
And if you don't protect yourself
Obsidian currents
Will devour you
You have committed yourself
Wholly to the dominion of semantics and ideas
All things cerebral and abstract
No patience for impractical emotions
Burning everyone who
Ever try to get close to you
But you're so lizard-like you don't
Feel any passion for anyone but yourself
There is a virus in your tenets
Don't be naive, you know it's true
And if you don't protect yourself
Obsidian currents
Will devour you
The lyrics of "Obsidian Currents" by of Montreal are a scathing critique of intellectual detachment and the dangers of living a life detached from human emotion. The song begins by describing the singer's misguided belief that they can transcend traditional notions of good and evil and live their life purely through the prism of intellectual concepts. They see themselves as above the rest of humanity, removed from the emotional and physical world and insulated in their own thoughts and ideas.
However, this detachment is ultimately dangerous, as it leaves them vulnerable to the "virus" in their tenets, which is perhaps a metaphor for the toxic effects of intellectual arrogance and hyper-rationality. The chorus warns that without protecting oneself from these "obsidian currents", one risks being consumed by them. The singer is so consumed by their own ideas that they burn anyone who tries to get close to them and feel no true passion for anyone outside of themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
You like to think that you can
You have the desire to believe that you are capable of doing something.
Live beyond good and evil
You believe that the ethical values of right and wrong do not apply to you.
Amputated from humanity
You feel disconnected from other humans and society in general.
On some lifelong intellectual retreat
You are constantly seeking knowledge and understanding, and prioritize this over other aspects of life.
Everything is conceptual and
You view everything as abstract and theoretical rather than tangible or practical.
All is rhetorical
You see language and persuasion as the most powerful tools for influencing and controlling others.
You can feel so powerful
You derive a sense of strength and dominance from your intellectual prowess.
When you're forced to face the physical world
When you have to deal with real-life situations and experiences.
You scurry like an insect
You feel vulnerable and powerless when confronted with physical challenges or threats.
There is a virus in your tenets
Your beliefs and principles are flawed and potentially destructive.
Don't be naive, you know it's true
You are aware of the dangers and risks associated with your beliefs.
And if you don't protect yourself
If you fail to recognize the harmful nature of your beliefs and protect yourself from their negative effects.
Obsidian currents
A metaphorical representation of the harmful forces and consequences associated with your flawed beliefs and principles.
Will devour you
Your flawed beliefs and principles will consume and destroy you if you do not take action to protect yourself.
You have committed yourself
You have dedicated yourself completely to a certain way of thinking and behaving.
Wholly to the dominion of semantics and ideas
Your entire focus is on language, words, and abstract concepts rather than practical realities.
All things cerebral and abstract
You prioritize intellectual and abstract pursuits over physical and practical ones.
No patience for impractical emotions
You do not value or prioritize emotions or feelings that do not serve a clear and direct purpose.
Burning everyone who
You hurt and damage everyone who attempts to get close to you emotionally or otherwise.
Ever try to get close to you
Whoever tries to form a relationship or connection with you.
But you're so lizard-like you don't
You are cold-blooded and unempathetic, incapable of feeling deeply or connecting with others in a meaningful way.
Feel any passion for anyone but yourself
You are incapable of experiencing strong emotions or desires outside of your own self-interest.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Kevin Barnes
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind