American rock and psychedelic pop band, of Montreal, released their 11th full-length album, “Paralytic Stalks,” in stores Feb. 7. The album leaked online Jan. 10 giving fans a chance to hear the entire LP.
Kevin Barnes formed of Montreal in 1996 allegedly settling on that band moniker following an unsuccessful relationship with a woman from Montreal, Quebec.
Barnes remained the only band member until he moved to Athens, Ga. where he combined forces with former member Derek Almstead and current member Bryan Poole. The trio recorded their debut album “Cherry Peel,” putting them on the music map.
In 2004 of Montreal opted to leave Kindercore records and sign with Polyvinyl, their current label.
Barnes remains the front man of the band, and on “Paralytic Stalks” he is the producer, songwriter, and co-engineer. The LP was recorded in Barnes’ personal studio and mixed at Chase Park Transduction with engineer Drew Vandenberg.
“Paralytic Stalks’” sounds are impenetrable and haunting. Barnes’ voice stands out against the intriguing electronic and “of Montreal sounding” beats.
The album opens with “Gelid Ascent” and immediately listeners are jolted with extra terrestrial sounding sirens that are almost frightening as if the song were made for a scarier version of Disneyland’s Space Mountain. When the vocals drop in, the echoing and monotone voice is haunting and mysterious up until the beat drops, the percussion hits and Barnes’ voice comes in all too recognizably reassuring listeners that this album is in fact a product of of Montreal and not aliens.
The fourth track on the LP, “Dour Percentage” was the second song from the album to drop early thanks to the Internet. Seemingly inspired by classical music, with flutes fluttering in the background and cooing vocals in the forefront, this song is fresh and easygoing showing a new elemental side of of Montreal that the band appears to have strengthened immensely.
“Dour Percentage” flows ever so smoothly into “We Will Commit Wolf Murder,” a song crying out for direction and receiving nothing in return. The lyrics explain “Can’t you hear me crying out for guidance?/ Yes, we hear but we don’t care/ No sympathetic victims anywhere/ There’s blood in my hair.”
“Ye, Renew the Plaintiff” picks the pace of the album back up combining what seems like six different songs into one. This song could definitely be described as having “free composition.” A quarter of the way through the track the mash-up begins to switch gears immensely almost changing the genre of the song immediately. This continues for the next eight minutes of the track showing either immense talent or extreme confusion from the band.
The nine songs scream of Montreal in style and aesthetic but there is not one song on the album that makes “Paralytic Stalks” truly stand out in comparison to the previous ten albums that of Montreal has released.
Any true fan of of Montreal will be enticed and thrilled by these newer songs, but in reality this full-length album could really fit in as a B-side to any of their previous.
