Preview: Of Montreal at the Metro

https://youtu.be/dplJMfOTZDk Robotic voices, arena rock guitar lines, and keyboard bleeps à la Beck's Midnite Vultures: this is Of Montreal's 14th album release in a nutshell. On Innocence Reaches, Kevin Barnes returned to the high-sugar diet of electronically led dance music and, more importantly, he has listened to music from the 21st century. In most of his previous releases, Barnes had deconstructed Beach Boys and Beatles songs to fit into his own puzzle. But on this record, it's like Barnes splashed the pulsating electronic sound space of Crystal Castles against a wall of Sleigh Bell's noise-dance. In other words, the record is glee with glam and covered in confetti. Thick and funky bass lines move the record along, especially on the single "it's different for girls," while guitars in often used to create texture instead of leading a song with riffs. That said, classic paisley influences, like Syd Barrett and early Bowie, can be heard on "chaos arpeggiating" as Barnes fancifully sings in Anglo-Saxon intonation. And "def pacts," with an acoustic guitar heard in front of swirling guitar chords, almost sounds like it's off of Foxygen's ...And Star Power. Innocence Reaches still sounds like Of Montreal. It's over-the-top, it's gender-bending, and it wears flamboyant colors. It is, however, looking a bit more forward than Barnes's previous work. Of Montreal is playing at the Metro on September 19th. Ruby The RabbitFoot opens, who is touring with Of Montreal for the next month, in support of their recent album Divorce Party (Normaltown Records). Tickets cost $24.00 in advance, which can be bought here. The Doors open at 6:00 PM., the show starts at 7:00, but the dancing probably will last from the beginning of the evening to the end of night.