Customer Reviews

False Priest (2 LP + mp3)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Of Montreal, well-known as the venting mechanism for one Kevin Barnes, is back with an LP of brand new material. Following in the vein of Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping, False Priest is an eclectic mix of funky indie pop and spazzy R&B jams. Of Montreal has changed significantly since its Beatles-esque first incarnation, the obvious turning point being Satanic Panic in the Attack, which was perhaps the first point at which Barnes successfully synthesized his varied tastes into an engaging and exciting piece of work. On Hissing Fauna, he chronicled his personal transformation through a difficult point in his life, coming out on the other side of The Past is a Grotesque Animal as the sexually empowered Georgie Fruit. He then gave full control to his fickle muse on Skeletal Lamping, a product with a handful of truly brilliant moments surrounded by schizophrenic fluff, which tends to play out a little too long and a little too obtuse to have staying power. Following Skeletal Lamping, False Priest sees Barnes scaling back his insanity, instead carefully dialing it in to hit on a compelling blend of creativity and precision, the latter of which was very much lacking from Skeletal Lamping.

Opener I Feel Ya' Stutter has some of the aforementioned schizo elements from Skeletal Lamping, but I think that as on Hissing Fauna, False Priest chronicles a transformation from Georgie Fruit back into a new hybrid character, someone with both the creativity and the pop sensibilities. Coquet Coquette has a bit of a Led Zeppelin stomp to it, which deep, billowing guitars and a driving rhythm section. The contributions of Janelle Monae and Solane Knowles on Enemy Gene and Sex Karma respectively are not to be overlooked. Two of the album's strongest tracks, the former has a powerful note of self doubt and introspection while the latter absolutely oozes sexuality.

Hissing Fauna, through my ears, was unquestionably Kevin Barnes' opus, and I don't suspect that he's going to ever top it without his life being thrown into serious turmoil again, but that's ok, because after the growing pains of Skeletal Lamping, Barnes has found his stride, effectively creating a record that sounds entirely like Of Montreal while still refusing to play it safe.

When I first listened to this album, I was bitterly disappointed. I am a huge fan of Of Montreal since Hissing Fauna. I have become even more fan since I have listened to their other work. But then come False Priest and for the first time I thought I would have to say that they or he (Barnes) produced something relatively bad. But then, I took on me to listen several times to the album. And oh jeez, what a good idea! This is perhaps not the best artistic work of Barnes but it is undoubtedly for me the most fun album I have listened in years. Many songs will just get your feet dancing, your voice singing and your head spinning. It is true that some lyrics are abstract to the extreme but somehow you can relate to them. Why? Because Barnes writes about life. Do not hesitate to spend some time with this record, you will never ever regret it!

At first listen I was extremely disappointed with this album, and that bummed me out immensely because Kevin Barnes is already almost a mythological figure to me. So, I just kept on listening to the cd over and over again as I started to like it more and more. And now, now this album is second to "Hissing Fauna..." I'm not confident enough to say I always understand what Kevin is singing about, but this album makes me sad sometimes because I sometimes think i know exactly what he's talking about and it's very lonely. Simultaneously, there's some really fun exploding consciousness type stuff that is great too! I am very grateful to Kevin Barnes for exposing so much of himself through art and music, and I am very grateful for this album, that even in it's most schizo moments, can pull me out of those solipsistic spells I tend to fall under from time to time.

The first time I came across Of Montreal was on genre hopper Janelle Monáe's "The Archandroid" album. They appear on the quirky "Make the bus" and that was enough to make me take note.

"False priest" runs along similar rails; quirky Indie Funk tunes set to groovy bass, tight harmonies and cryptic lyrics. The production is Hi Fi with live instrumentation for a full sound.

Monáe appears on the off kilter Disco of "Our riotous defects" and on "Enemy gene". Beyoncé's sister Solange continues to make interesting collaboration choices and appears on "Sex karma" (and gets likened to a playground) which segues seamlessly into the Funky "Girl named hello" (I love the song titles).

"Coquet coquette" starts with a machine gun spagetti western guitar riff and is incredibly catchy and groovy. "Godly intersex" is a midtempo organ-sprinkled number, "Like a tourist" is like a futuristic James Brown, while the spoken-word "Do you mutilate?" is sung in a Prince-style falsetto and takes a look at failings of religion. "False priest" is a wild and fun ride!

Kevin Barnes made very clear that the schizophrenic Skeletal Lamping was simply an experiment, that its bipolar vignettes were over and done with. This may be true, but the soul and funk influences that Barnes dabbled in are now more prevalent than ever on of Montreal's electric tenth album, False Priest. Barnes also returns to recording primarily organic instruments for the first time since 2004's Satanic Panic In The Attic, and with the help of blockbuster producer Jon Brion, Priest is the band's fullest-sounding album to date. The wider sonic palette helps propel the polyrhythms and extended jams that drive stone cold grooves like "Girl Named Hello" and "I Feel Ya' Strutter." Moreover, the return to (relatively) normal song structure pays great dividends for Barnes, helping to rein in some of the more indulgent moments that occasionally bogged down Skeletal Lamping, though it sometimes remains a problem here. But for all the influences, no one's going to mistake this for a Curtis Mayfield record. This is still an of Montreal record through and through with all the one-man harmonies (particularly on album standout "Hydra Fancies") and psych-pop flourishes. Barnes even presents some of his most rock-oriented work in years on "Coquet Coquette" and "Famine Affair."

Yet what makes False Priest stand out among the band's discography isn't just its sound. Barnes' willingness to collaborate-not just with Brion but with like-minded vocalists Janelle Monáe and Solange-on what are primarily dancefloor-savvy numbers results in of Montreal's most playful record yet. Sure, like all oM records, anger and depression permeate the record (especially "Casualty Of You" and "Famine Affair," the latter of which plays like a sequel to Hissing Fauna`s "She's A Rejecter"). But here, just about everything feels like a party even when the lyrics state otherwise. Although Barnes has pulled off this trick before, particularly on Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, here he despairs and philosophizes as often as he jokes, keeping the focus on fun. No, it's not perfect, but False Priest stands tall even among of Montreal's distinguished body of work.

Some of my favorite records took awhile to grow on me. The same goes with False Priest. It is a sonically dense record that ages better with each listen. And yes, there are still hooks.

Since Of Montreal started shifting to a more glam-dance pop, their records have been somewhat uneven. Gems here and there, no doubt- but with False Priest they have finally achieved what they have building up to the last three records. It is a damn near perfect record, and possibly my favorite record of the last 10 years.

So do yourself a favor and pick this up.

And, as a sidenote, it is criminal "Sex Karma" wasn't the summer jam of 2010.

When I first listened to this album, I was really excited because "I Feel Ya Strutter" was such a great opening track, and I loved the energy and hooks. The first 3 tracks are all really strong, and I feel like starting with the 4th track, it just kind of goes downhill. Most of the mid-section of this album, the songs just fall so flat. I think part of it might be the key that a lot of the songs are written in I find really depressing. I mean, it doesn't have to be upbeat to be exciting. I think "Around the Way" is also a really good track, and it is depressing, but in a good way, if that makes any sense... I don't know. I've heard people say that this is of Montreal's most accessible album, and I guess I would agree with that, but the songs never really progress anywhere from that... Even after several listens, you're still mostly in the same place. It's really not that bad, though, it just wasn't up to par with what the band is capable of.

Considering I've gotten less and less excited for an Of Montreal release since Sunlandic Twins, I came to False Priest with more or less an open mind and one question: will we be getting crazy transsexual Georgie Fruit with this release, the one who doesn't know when to shut up, or the relatively more mild-mannered Kevin Barnes, who could write a pop song to stand up with the best of Mangum and Schneider? I was pleasantly surprised to find that False Priest definitely leans towards the band's earlier days, most noticeable in their decision to return to live instruments and a more organic recording process. Opener "I Feel Ya Strutter" is almost a revelation in this regard, although it's without doubt a stereotypically Of Montreal-ian song - the drums are crisp and bouncy and the bass bubbly with a hint of funk, all while Barnes' less-vocodered-than-usual vocals propel a pretty straightforward power-pop delight. There's no electro gimmick, no crazy shift in tone or style, no Barnes yelping like a castrated maniac. There's still that faint tinge of weirdness that reminds you this isn't the Apples in Stereo, like that spoken-word bit in the bridge and typically bizarre lyrics ("I'm in a flight simulator / and I am crashing the birth of any potential memory / hey, I'm still way erect for you"). Right from the get-go, it's obvious this isn't going to be another Skeletal Lamping; False Priest is composed of actual individual songs, not a thousand piece cut-and-paste experiment, and the album as a whole is better off for it.

It's not as if Barnes is entirely abandoning his Fruit persona. Some of False Priest's best tunes mix in a healthy amount of funky R&B, particularly the blue-eyed soul and fat bass on "Hydra Fancies" and the superb combo of "Sex Karma" and "A Girl Named Hello." It makes Barnes' past missteps even more tragic when you hear a song like the effortless booty-shaking of "Girl Named Hello," where it becomes obvious that a Kevin Barnes with a specified direction and a studio environment that doesn't encourage endless tinkering is far superior to a Kevin Barnes trying to be the Elephant 6 version of Kevin Shields. And then there's songs like "Coquet Coquette," which sounds like a noise-rock outtake from Sunlandic Twins (read: awesome) or the Janelle Monae collaboration on "Enemy Gene," where Barnes and the R&B superstar combine for the smoothest, most satisfying melody on the album. These songs are good precisely because they don't try to overstep their bounds or become something they're not - they follow the melody Barnes sets out for them, and although it's been a while since he's been so straightforward, his first-rate songwriting chops rise to the surface quite clearly here.

But it wouldn't be an Of Montreal record if Barnes didn't decide to mess around here or there, and False Priest is as inconsistent as most everything else in the band's discography. Where Barnes falls, he falls hard: the primarily spoken-word verses of "Our Riotous Defects" are embarrassingly bad; "Godly Intersex" can't decide whether it wants to be an oddball slow jam or psychedelic pop and instead fades away with nary a lasting hook; and the way Barnes ends the proceedings, with the average "Around The Way" and the completely unnecessary 7-minute wankery of "You Do Mutilate?" is practically criminal. Don't get me started on Barnes' lyrics or predictably eccentric song titles - with lyrics like "you fetishize the archetype" and "when we experiment, I will put down your surrogate," I've long given up trying to understand just what Barnes is getting at. Then again, isn't that what Of Montreal have always been about? Subverting the Elephant 6 power-pop convention with his own quirkiness and defiantly unique peculiarities, Barnes has always been his own man, although once he finally made it out of the shadows of his contemporaries he got a little bit over his head with the genre/gender bending. With False Priest, Barnes finally seems to be settling into his own skin, cherry picking from his long history and patching it all back together into something that Of Montreal could ride into the new decade. Just no more concept albums, please.

This album is absolutely awful. I became a HUGE fan of the band after hearing Sunlandic Twins and Hissing Fauna and have recommended both to people for years. I thought Skeletal Lamping was a bit disappointing but that it nonetheless had some beautiful and entertaining sections. I always loved the band's instinct for innovative beats, tight arrangements and beautiful melodies, and Kev's vocals just really brought it home. You will find none of the above on this album; on Kevin's part, the vocals and lyrics are almost universally, unbearably bad. What an anti-artistic, phoned-in embarrassment of a record. Ugh.

In 2005, Kevin Barnes and of Montreal briefly flirted with the mainstream with the release of The Sunlandic Twins. That album got them a lot of deserved attention. And though each album since then has garnered much more commercial success, the music has taken a decidely non-mainstream turn. Not that that's necessarily a terrible thing. For as unfocused and schizophrenic as 2008's Skeletal Lamping was, it wound up being one of the group's most astonishing and endearing achievements. False Priest picks up where Lamping left off, with Barnes once again calling upon his Georgie Fruit persona for inspiration. Though less ambitious than its predecessor, False Priest is still a deserving addition to of Montreal's already stellar catalogue of music.

Like most of Montreal openers, "I Feel Ya Strutter" starts the album off with a bang! The piano-led, upbeat pop song showcases what is likely to be the most divisive aspect of False Priest, Barnes' heavy-reliance on falsetto singing. Barnes has never had the least-annoying voice in indie pop, but hearing him wail in falsetto makes his voice even that much more polarizing. As initially off-putting as it may seem, Barnes' embrace of this new-found liberation from vocal restraints makes the music even wilder and more enjoyable than it would have otherwise been. On "Strutter" you can practically hear him singing off his shackles, and to great effect! The song - about Barnes' realization that he is "blessed" to be with someone - finds its antithesis in the next track, "Our Riotous Defects" - a song about the crazy ex-girlfriend. Its spoken-word verses are not new in the world of of Montreal, and neither is its conspicuous humor. Kevin's reminiscing of the ex in question killing his beta fish as punishment for contradicting her in front of her friends is laugh out loud hilarious! Janelle Monae joins in on the song's coda, sounding lovely, if not underutilized.

Intra-album genre-hopping has never really been of Montreal's strong point, but on False Priest they manage to arrange an eclectic array of tunes into a relatively cohesive whole. Whether it's the unapologetic funk of "Hydra Fancies" or the smooth R&B sounds of "Enemy Gene," there are a lot of styles to take in here. The former song is my personal favorite on the album, featuring one of False Priest's catchiest hooks and an absolutely infectious synth solo towards the end. "Sex Karma" is equally as endearing and likely to be the album's second single. Solange Knowles absolutely kills it on the song's chorus, going tit for tat with Barnes' sex-crazed persona and singing such memorable lines as"You look like playground to me, playa" and "I kiss you where I shouldn't be." Also particularly brilliant is, "Coquet Coquette" - a great choice for the first single, as its easily the album's most "normal" , least-convoluted track. It's spanish guitars and catchy bassline make for repeatedly enjoyable song.

More often than not, of Montreal sounds more at ease with upbeat tunes than the more solemn songs. The depressing "Casualty of You" is a complete dud; not because it's unexpected and seemingly out of place on an of Montreal record, but just because it's boring and unaffective. of Montreal's "thing" in the last 5 years has been catharsis through pop music, but "Casualty" is a prime example of how to do that entirely wrong. Likewise, album-closer (and awesomely-titled), "You Do Mutilate?" ends the album with Barnes in the pulpit. His spoken-word sermon about respecting your fellow-man is admirable, to be sure, but it comes off as poor interpretation of a Michael Jackson acceptance speech and is no way to end an album.

But overall, False Priest is quite an enjoyable experience. Kevin Barnes has never been one to play it safe, and False Priest is an excellent example of this. Therefore, like all of Montreal albums, a listener has to go into it with an open mind. While a lot of it may seem too outlandish upon first listen; Barnes' unbelievable ability to craft memorable hooks from the most bizarre places will eventually win over the majority his detractors. Though the album's greatness wavers towards its end, there is very little on False Priest that isn't at least slighty awesome. It's a welcome addition to my of Montreal collection, and something I'll certainly be listening to for months.

Key Tracks:
1. "I Feel Ya Strutter"
2. "Our Rioutous Defects"
3. "Coquet Coquette"
4. "Hydra Fancies"
5. "Like a Tourist"

7 out of 10 Stars