Of Montreal

Of Montreal were originally part of the fabled Elephant Six collective, a loose-knit circle of bands united by friendship, eccentricity, and a shared love of all things psychedelic. While their fellow Elephants got into giddy bubblegum pop (Apples in Stereo), grand orchestral concepts (Neutral Milk Hotel) and acid-laced soundscapes (Olivia Tremor Control), Of Montreal did all that and more-constantly shifting lineups and musical approaches over a prolific career that usually delighted their fellow psych aficionados. The leader and one constant of the band was Kevin Barnes, who began recording under the Of Montreal name soon after settling in the musically rich college town of Athens, GA. The first incarnation was a guitar/bass/drums trio who made the 1997 debut Cherry Peel. Here the sound was more characteristic Athens-in other words, not a million miles from early R.E.M.-with emotive and sometimes childlike vocals from Barnes, even some jangle in the guitars. By the fourth album The Gay Parade (released only two years later) the band had grown to a five-piece, the writing was more fairy take-like, and the music took on a giddy, carnival atmosphere. This was followed by Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse, their first full-blown concept album-where the music was every bit as playful as the concept, about a good-hearted fairy creature who befriends two humans, and they go off to ride satellites and fight zombies together. Yet Barnes was just getting started. 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, recorded largely by himself, mixed Bowie-esque pop with harsher electronic stretches; its concept had Barnes transforming into an androgynous, Ziggy-esque character named Georgie Fruit (and Barnes did appear onstage in this guise). The followup, Skeletal Lamping added some Prince-inspired funk to the mix. This experimental phase gave Of Montreal its greatest commercial success yet, as their songs appeared in numerous TV ads. By now fans could expect a surprise on every album, whether it was a heavier swing to psychedelic funk on 2010's False Priest (which included duets with R&B stars Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles), a divorce catharsis on 2012's Paralytic Stalks, an embrace of classic rock on 2013's Lousy with Sylvianbriar, or EDM on 2016's Innocence Reaches. The Georgie Fruit persona again reared his head on the 2017 EP Rune Husk.