The Nevada Sagebrush

“Paralytic Stalks” is the 11th full-length studio album from psychedelic and experimental pop group of Montreal. The subject matter is considered highly confessional and continues in the same lyrical style shown on previous of Montreal records. Photo courtesy of Polyvinyl Record Co.

During the course of its 15 years and 11 albums, of Montreal has honed and refined a very signature style. Fans of the band know to expect bouncing basslines, a mixture of glam, psychedelic funk and indie pop, and frontman and core creative force Kevin Barnes’ androgynous, birdlike vocals.

Oh, and really pretentious song titles that never, ever show up in the lyrics (the band’s biggest hit is a song called “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” — it was used in an Outback Steakhouse commercial). That might sound like a weird combination, but the band has proven multiple times that its weird vibe can make something fun, dark and funky.

Of Montreal’s new album, “Paralytic Stalks,” is largely reminiscent of “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?” in that it’s a moody, personal album exploring Barnes’ life, but where “Hissing Fauna’s” pop was easily accessible and immediately fun while still retaining depth and passion, “Paralytic Stalks” is overly dense and a little bit messy.

Recently, of Montreal has been experimenting with song structure, which is also true on “Paralytic Stalks.” It’s not as scattered as the band’s second-to-last album, “Skeletal Lamping,” (which was composed entirely of one minute song segments roughly clumped together) but the majority of the songs are fairly twitchy and unstructured jams such as “Ye, Renew the Plaintiff” seem to be headed in one direction, then veer off course into a completely different song, and then another, and another. It can be interesting because it’s unexpected, but it also seems unfocused.

Instrumentation is equally sporadic. In “We Will Commit Wolf Murder,” there’s a point where drums come crashing in so heavily that it’s easy to lose the song’s tempo in the resulting explosion of sound. This could probably work for a noisy or more rough-sounding band, but of Montreal is really about fun, cuddly pop (even if the lyrics are morbid). It takes away from the established glam-funk groove.

Often, other songs simply have too much going on, with myriad synths, mellophones, guitars, pianos, multiple drum tracks and chirping vocals all colliding in a confusing mess. It’s an interesting and  brave decision to meld all these sounds together at once, but it just doesn’t come out right.

However, not everything on “Paralytic Stalks” is unsuccessful. The music might be dense and messy, but after multiple listens it becomes much more bearable — as the songs become more familiar, the way that the wildly different instrumentation plays off each other becomes more clear and less confusing.

The lyrics also tell a complex and personal story of Barnes’ psyche and failing relationships. The only problem with both these things is they both require a serious amount of investment into the album. You can’t just listen to it one time and pull away something valuable; it has to be explored multiple times before any of the pieces come together.

And that’s really it. Whether you enjoy this album will depend on how much time you are willing to invest in it. If you want a breezy, accessible album to play during runs or in the car, skip “Paralytic Stalks.” If you want something dense but ultimately rewarding, and can’t get enough of Montreal, give “Paralytic Stalks” a try, but only after you’ve exhausted “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?”

of Montreal

Paralytic Stalks

Release Date: Feb. 7

Genre: Psychedelic Pop, Experimental

Grade: C-

Charlie Woodman can be reached at arts-entertainment@nevadasagebrush.com.

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