I hadn’t heard anything by Of Montreal prior to this record which I picked up after reading a string of largely acclamatory, if contradictory, reviews. Like the most recent Kristen Hersh album, it takes a long time to unpick. Unlike “Learn To Sing Like A Star”, it offers up a rush of baffling treasures in return.
For me, the key track was the nigh-on twelve minute four-to-the-floor pound of “The Past Is A Grotesque Animal”. The singer hammers away at some unnamed but distressing state akin to mild Asperger’s, apparently only able to form relationships with girls who ‘appreciate George Bataille’. Then the trouble starts. Meanwhile, a flood of screechy, “Scary Monsters” guitars and synths scratch and beep away hysterically. The vocal is declamatory rather than melodic. The whole song sounds eerily familiar. I worried away at that familiarity for ages, playing it at least once a day until I finally nailed it down – Hawkwind, of all bands. The high-pitched sing-song speech, the synths, the relentless rhythm – it’s a direct spiritual descendant of “Spirit of the Age” off “Quark, Strangeness and Charm” which in itself was one of the tightest and most radio-friendly albums the Hawkgang ever put out.
After that, everything started to tumble into place. “Scary Monsters” and “Lodger” hover behind every gesture or faux Prince falsetto. The absurdly long titles make sense as utterly necessary baroque filligree. The bitching, posing and put-downs (“But I need a lover with soouulllll power”) start to echo as funny and pathetic by turns.
If this review sounds like a list of only vaguely connected assertions, that’s perfectly in line with this infuriating puzzle-box of a record. And like the intricate wooden box in “Hellraiser”, you’ll wonder with a certain amount of nervousness what exactly is going to emerge. The last song trails off in a shimmer of dancing little synth lines and heartbeat drums. Go find out for yourself (their website is streaming the whole thing). Oh, and for those interested in ancient history, “Quark, Strangeness and Charm” gets a Wikipedia entry all of its own.
