Of Montreal came out with a new album False Priest this week. That means they begin the arduous touring schedule they are so well known for. Usually they try to do at least 40 stops per tour, often more. Kevin Barnes has “tour fluffers” in order to keep him in tip-top shape once he hits the stage. White ponies aren’t just going to ride themselves.
Last album got a lot of flak for being “insanely sexual”. I remember for the opening concert at the Roseland, he rode on stage almost naked riding a white horse (he got an upgrade from his usual pony). Most reviews talked about how obsessively self-indulgent the whole affair was, usually citing how many different ideas were shoved into each song. Max Tundra complained about that same criticism once he began releasing his music. It is a lazy and usually unwarranted criticism. Whatever critic uses it tends to focus exclusively on hooks and catchiness. Most of those tend to be unfamiliar with more challenging fare, and are ill-suited for such reviews. Also, I’ve noticed that a general rule of thumb tends to be voting against rather than for these hyper-active landscapes.
False Priest appears to be a different beast. Rock actually rears its ugly head through all the millions of synthesizers and various drum machines. Plus, it sounds as if Kevin has moved away from the pure joyous freak-outs of Skeletal Lamping. Of course, I need to spend more time with this album and let it grow on me. My computer frustrations could not have come at a worse time. Generally I like to be somewhat familiar with an album before just committing myself to a concert (with Panda Bear being a notable exception).
Nonetheless, I think Kevin will come out in heavy form for this. Maybe he moved away from the astronomically bizarre reaches on Skeletal Lamping since he needed to be a more normal role model for his child. I still find it weird he has a kid, and I figure that kid’s rebellion against his parents’ high weirdness will be something like becoming an actuary or something. Yes, he’ll rebel by being really boring, kind of like Ned Flanders reacted against his parents’ Beatnik lifestyle.
My only worry has to do with the venue. Terminal 5 is a dreadful, dreadful concert hall. Bringing together all the worst of large venues with the worst of small venues, it feels like the suburbs, in that ugly gray zone. Hopefully the concert itself will be good enough to overcome this almost crippling problem. Hell, LCD Soundsystem did it, but then LCD Soundsystem is amazing.
See you there everyone!