If you thought you would never see Lone Pine Tavern listed as a hot venue on mtv.com, find a new benchmark of impossibility. Tonight, Friday Night Rock will temporarily become Monday Night Rock in order to introduce the Dartmouth campus to the neo-psychedelic indie pop group Of Montreal, a band that has generated so much buzz over the years that admission to the show might get more competitive than admission to college. Doors open at 9 p.m., and the FNR staff stresses Lone Pine's limited capacity and its "first come, first served" policy. Translation: start lining up early to see the best live musical performance of the term.
Psych-pop bands are often automatically assigned California '60s pop stylings and a Brian Wilson fixation, but Of Montreal is too intelligent and prolific to be so reduced. Says FNR general manager Andrew Sandoval '06, "If I had to describe [Of Montreal], it would kind of be like if the Beach Boys took more drugs and constantly evolved through different genres and styles." Since their 1997 debut, "Cherry Peel," the band has released roughly one LP each year, as well as numerous EPs, singles and compilation albums in between. Of Montreal is considered part of the second wave of groups emerging from the Elephant 6 collective, founded by the Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control, and marked by a low-fi, psychedelic sound filled with druggy imagery and unique instrument choices.
Led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Kevin Barnes, the group's lineup over the years has changed as much as its sound, from a basically solo project "The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy" in 1998 to albums like 1999's "The Gay Parade," featuring as many as 40 musicians. In the process, the Of Montreal sound has expanded by decades, incorporating not just the Beatles-esque but also shades of Talking Heads and Brian Eno. This change has been most pronounced over the past two albums as Barnes has honed his writing talents and incorporated more varied and more contemporary influences into his music. Barnes himself has noticed this marked change in an interview with The A.V. Club, the arts supplement of the fake newspaper "The Onion": "I couldn't really stand to listen to modern production, it drove me crazy. But then I somehow had this breakthrough, and in the last couple years, I've really searched for contemporary music that inspires me because I want to feel more connected to my generation."
The past two albums released on Polyvinyl Records, "Satanic Panic in the Attic" in 2004 and "The Sunlandic Twins" in 2005, have benefited immensely from this growth and are often labeled as the band's best work. The saccharine songs, filled with gleefully catchy hooks and surreal lyrics, are now bolstered by drum samples and punchier, more judiciously edited arrangements.
Despite the whimsical, novel-length song titles (i.e., "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)"), Of Montreal is quite accessible and entertaining. They appeared on the soundtrack of "The O.C.," apparently our generation's arbiter of "hip" music -- a statement that may either make you smile or cringe. Either way, Of Montreal fits alongside those other rather commercially-oriented groups like Phantom Planet and the Kaiser Chiefs -- it is easy to like and easy to listen to if not particularly innovative. But who wants their mind blown on the Monday before reading period?
Talking to the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Barnes said, "[The audience] should realize that this is fun music. Usually, with an indie rock audience, they stand around with crossed arms, and this is not like that at all. It's all about getting sweaty. So come with your dancing shoes." Of Montreal's stage presence has been described as energetic, with vaudevillian elements like skits and costumes, as well as the requisite fun cover songs. Brendon Bouzard '06 of FNR promises that the show will be "more fun than we've seen at FNR in a long time." Another Polyvinyl Records band, The M's, is opening for Of Montreal at 9:30 p.m.
