There is a common misconception in this band's name, they are not from Montreal, they are actually from Athens, Georgia. This band was named after the frontman, Kevin Barnes, failed romance with a woman, "of Montreal". This band has evolved from Beatles psychedelic style, twee pop, and vaudevillian styles to indie pop, indie rock, and funk. Their main influence is David Bowie. This band sticks out to me because of their unique sounds that change throughout their albums. They take you on a sad indie rock journey, often a depressing one, with highs and lows. In their first few albums, The Gay Parade, and, Aldhils Arboretum, discuss controversial topics such as Gay Marriage and many others. Once you hit Satanic Panic in the Attic, you soon realize you are listening to some psychedelic pop, some early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, and early Beatles. I enjoy this, not only because it is extremely versatile, but the chorus' in these albums give me the shivers. I discovered them surprisingly on the radio, this is surprising because they usually don't play good music (my kind of music) on the radio.
A huge concept that this band tries to portray is its fictional characters. "Jaques Lamure" and "Mimi Merlot" are just a couple of the extensive amount of fictional characters. These characters come alive in their songs, and their stories are told through the music. Another major concept in this band is telling humorous and personal stories through their music, such as "Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage." and "Tim I Wish You Were Born A Girl." This kind of system helps the band get more ideas and improve there style.
An apparent characteristic in this band is their gloomy lyrics and often accompanied by upbeat melodies, and hooks. In songs such as "Doing Nothing" and "Old People in the Cemetery.", portrays apathy, loneliness, and death, while the instrumentation remains upbeat. Earlier I mentioned their very strong but yet depressing lyrics, here's an example: "Father will we starve today? Father will we starve?/No my child there are wild women in here and a fleshy catch am I/ Will our quarters be the sunken earth deep beneath the meadow?" -Withered Debts, of Montreal.
390 words.
Written very well and entertaining. I'm still just not entirely sure why their name is of Montreal. Anyways, They way of Montreal puts stories in their music reminds of the Decemberists. The same is entirely true how their songs sound upbeat, while the lyrics are very gloomy.
ReplyDeleteThis very well explains of Motreal and after reading this would really like to listen to this band. But the fact that their name is Motreal is confusing.
ReplyDeleteI am not confused by the band's name; I feel you did a great job expressing the etymology of the moniker. Also, I enjoyed reading about this band and your insights into their music and lyrics. However, I see that this post just STOPS abruptly after the lyric. Why not offer to explain what you take from the lyric? Gloomy lyrics and upbeat melodies? Seems like they're stealing The Smiths modus operandi! Listen to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" for proof.
ReplyDeleteYour grammatical shortcomings are apparent here. Run on sentences are especially prominent. Example: "I discovered them surprisingly on the radio, this is surprising because they usually don't play good music (my kind of music) on the radio." Where should the first sentence end?
I think you could have made it to the 500 word minimum if you had wanted to, but you have a habit of coming up short of even minimum requirements. Let's break that habit in the next post!
Also, know that you're not even remotely done with the Big 16! You are no master!