See 66 more photos

of Montreal

On Tour

427,753 listeners (17,033,048 plays)

Listening now: loistalaakso, soapboxcritic, radfk

Add to my Library Share

indie, indie pop, indie rock, elephant 6, alternative… see all

2,305 shouts

Athens, Georgia, United States (1997 – present)

of Montreal (formed in 1997) are an indie pop band from Athens, Georgia, United States, fronted by Kevin Barnes.

They were among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company and the group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to their interest in combining musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band’s style has been influenced by conventional indie pop, psychedelic music, vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae on their recent releases.

The band’s style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the “group” prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium.

Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.
A number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower occurred before the release of the band’s third album, The Gay Parade in 1999. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, it also featured artwork from Kevin’s brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.

1	Gronlandic Edit	2,626
2	Suffer for Fashion	2,573
3	Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse	2,446
4	Nonpareil of Favor	2,210
5	Id Engager	2,108
6	Cato as a Pun	2,050
7	Wicked Wisdom	2,034
8	Sink the Seine	1,993
9	A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger	1,988
10	For Our Elegant Caste	1,953
11	Disconnect the Dots full track	1,940
12	The Past is a Grotesque Animal	1,902
13	Touched Something's Hollow	1,895
14	An Eluardian Instance	1,832
15	Gallery Piece	1,740

Top Albums

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
of Montreal
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download from iTunes
The Sunlandic Twins
of Montreal
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
- iTunes
- Amazon MP3
Satanic Panic in the Attic
of Montreal
Buy from LTI! Shop
Satanic Panic In The Attic (Special Edition)
of Montreal
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
- iTunes
- Amazon MP3

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

io_morrison wrote:
1 hour ago

i think all of the of Montreal albums are growers. DotsDisconnect you're totally right, Hello from Inside a Shell is a great song

View Profile | Leave io_morrison a shout
wappytea wrote:
1 hour ago

fauna was a grower...it took about 5 days to grow. SL, I've loved since first listen.

View Profile | Leave wappytea a shout
no_wire_hangers wrote:
3 hours ago

skeletal lamping is quickly becoming my favorite of montreal album

View Profile | Leave no_wire_hangers a shout
FreeXbox360 wrote:
3 hours ago

FREE XBOX360 NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!

View Profile | Leave FreeXbox360 a shout
sentenceofsorts wrote:
3 hours ago

I don't know if this is because I heard half the album before the full leak but after 3 or 4 or so listens I really don't see how it's so hard to get a grasp on. I mean it's been, what, 6 days since it leaked and I can already sing about just any song.. Just give a minute if you still feel it's too much.

View Profile | Leave sentenceofsorts a shout
Chow11 wrote:
4 hours ago

"we made love like a pair of black wizards" favorite line ever(the party's crashing us now)

View Profile | Leave Chow11 a shout
RAtM1 wrote:
4 hours ago

Gallery Piece is an amazing song.

View Profile | Leave RAtM1 a shout
theo_equis wrote:
4 hours ago

i love SL as it is, but it just feels like there are too many ideas in each song. he could've developed them further, you know. he could've made like 6 albums out of all the ideas he just mashed together shamelessly on this record. but i love the band and the record anyway.

View Profile | Leave theo_equis a shout
sls wrote:
6 hours ago

I've been listening to Skeletal Lamping for many days now and it's sort of coming together... some of the songs are still fail, but yeah this album is definitely a grower (not a shower). There's really too many ideas there to appreciate it all after one or two listens. Of Montreal is still the most interesting pop musician (it's just kevkev now basically) there is...

View Profile | Leave sls a shout
sifelltneytandi wrote:
7 hours ago

I do too, for the record.

View Profile | Leave sifelltneytandi a shout
sifelltneytandi wrote:
7 hours ago

DotsDisconnect seems to really liked Disconnect the Dots.

View Profile | Leave sifelltneytandi a shout
DotsDisconnect wrote:
8 hours ago

the past is a grotesque animal << no conclusions <<<< city bird <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<disconnect the dots

View Profile | Leave DotsDisconnect a shout
raceofdoom wrote:
9 hours ago

sigh. i dunno about this new album. :/

View Profile | Leave raceofdoom a shout
Lyrradsemaj wrote:
11 hours ago

I'm REALLLLLLLY warming up to Skeletal Lamping. It's definitely a grower,for me at least.

View Profile | Leave Lyrradsemaj a shout
meninc wrote:
11 hours ago

skeletal lamping is fucking me up

View Profile | Leave meninc a shout
tommoo wrote:
yesterday afternoon

what the fuck are you talking about antoin2, there is nothing wrong with city bird imo

View Profile | Leave tommoo a shout
no_wire_hangers wrote:
yesterday afternoon

your mom is a grotesque animal

View Profile | Leave no_wire_hangers a shout
LePlatypope wrote:
yesterday afternoon

I like No Conclusion, but I don't think it's any Grotesque Animal.

View Profile | Leave LePlatypope a shout
coloured_stripe wrote:
yesterday afternoon

It ain't no big thing but It's growin' LOL...otherwise i really like the kitsch-ness of Skeletal Lamping

View Profile | Leave coloured_stripe a shout
Sweetwen wrote:
yesterday morning

heyyy :) <333 http://www.last.fm/group/Sweetie+Pie

View Profile | Leave Sweetwen a shout

12…116 Next

Listeners

loistalaakso
Listening now
to And I've Seen A Bloody…
zosojake
Listening now
to Wicked Wisdom
duckinfutch
Listening now
to Rapture Rapes the Muses
Yosheekee
Top Listener
xBlade
Top Listener
theschism
Top Listener

Events

Oct 7 of Montreal Carolina Theatre, Durham, United States
6 shouts | 19 attendees
Oct 8 of Montreal The Orange Peel, Asheville, United States
1 shout | 22 attendees
Oct 9 of Montreal 9:30 Club, Washington DC, United States
2 shouts | 48 attendees

Add event | See more

Recent Activity

sweber2025, Miyovanstenis and vanpham99 added of Montreal to their libraries. 17 minutes ago
GChussir tagged of Montreal with ‘indie pop’. 2 hours ago
fosterlk, alucinhada, Twoheadedboy3 and 8 other people added of Montreal to their libraries. 3 hours ago
BBIrishbug tagged of Montreal with ‘american’. 9 hours ago
daryn14, spleinmuncher and djusti added of Montreal to their libraries. 9 hours ago
thomas_is_fast tagged of Montreal with ‘seen live’. 10 hours ago
insideabox, Zurgiea, natalievi and 4 other people added of Montreal to their libraries. 11 hours ago
nurka tagged of Montreal with ‘seen live’. yesterday afternoon
Dingledoodie and zapoyaska added of Montreal to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
jegman tagged of Montreal with ‘seen live’. yesterday afternoon