OF MONTREAL – PARALYTIC STALKS

Over the past fifteen years and eleven albums, Of Montreal’s driving goal has been to see how much the term ‘pop music’ can be stretched, morphed and reconfigured. This has resulted in a body of work that’s as comparable to the Beatles and David Bowie as it is to the most ‘out-there’ alternative music of recent times. Paralytic Stalks is consistently ‘out-there’, but innovation and enjoyment are unfortunately not quite as consistent. Opening track Gelid Ascent is smothered with special effects which recall the Mars Volta at their most indulgent. Likewise, the noisy Spiteful Intervention suffers further due to the nasal shrieks of frontman Kevin Barnes. It almost feels as if a lack of melodic inspiration is being compromised by throwing as many outlandish sounds and effects at the listener as possible. Ye, Renew The Plaintiff is an overlong mess of synthesizers and directionless drumming, while Wintered Debts is an unremarkable three-minute pop song followed by five minutes of tedious piano-and-strings ambience. Relentless, irritating and exhausting, Paralytic Stalks lacks the dynamic contrast and fundamental simplicity which make the music of Of Montreal’s obvious influences as enjoyable as they are innovative.

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