Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping

Back in the day I worked at a massive bookstore. There were about a gazillion staff, but only one of the guys there was openly gay. He really loved this exclusivity too, and several of the female staff had taken him under their wing as their token ‘gay friend' accessory.

But one day, the store had the audacity to employ another one, and all hell broke loose. The previously mild mannered guy started to become more extrovert, as the new guy was far more showy and flamboyant; all tight T-shirts and tales of sexual exploits. It was a bloody nightmare, like two bespectacled ballerinas with flat tops competing to be the only gay in the bookshop.

And at the peak of hostilities, if dramatised for Channel 4, Skeletal Lamping by Of Monreal would be the perfect soundtrack. A more over the top, "Look at me, I'm gay, really!" soundtrack you could not possibly hope to find. And, for the most part, it is truly horrible. What probably makes it worse is that it follows Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, considered by many to be Of Montreal's masterwork to date. Last year's deeply personal change of tack was a breath of fresh air, highlighting how downbeat, troubled lyrics could exist alongside upbeat disco melodies. But with his demons vanquished, frontman Kevin Barnes has led his merry troops back into high camp discoball land with renewed gusto.

Of Montreal have the same sort of vibe as Scissor Sisters, only more so. And on Skeletal Lamping the high camp is often ramped up to 11, consequently ruining it. Lyrically it centres on fictional character Georgie Fruit, a sex-driven sex-changed sextraterrestrial best described in the truly awful 'For Our Elegant Castle' with the mantra, "We can do it softcore if you want, but you should know that I go both ways". As an object lesson in portraying someone so overdosed on their own excesses they have become a parody of themselves, it does the job. As an album of music you might want to actually listen to, it falls painfully short. From repetitive and sometimes unlistenable OTT opener 'Nonpareil of Favor' to the closing 'Id Engager', which sounds like it was thrown together as they went, it's a Queen/Bowie/disco-inspired mess. The reason 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is a classic is because it's unique; but as many hate it as love it. This is like an album full of poor rehashes of that track.

Perhaps I'm being a little harsh. The worst sin of 'An Eluardian Instance' and 'Beware Our Nubile Miscreants' is being ordinary, while 'I've seen A Bloody Shadow' and 'Plastic Wafers' are passable early Bowie pastiches. 'Death Is Not a Parallel Move' is both subtle and interesting, and my favourite moment for it - probably because it offers a haven of calm amid the carnage. Overall though, I found it almost impossible to listen to Skeletal Lamping all the way through.
50%

Of Montreal on MySpace