One Track Mind

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Once upon a time, of Montreal was just another band in the gaggle of Elephant 6 acts creating slightly deranged, psychedelic indie-pop. They were neighbors (sometimes figuratively, other times almost literally) to like-minded souls such as Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power, but thanks to vocalist Kevin Barnes’ idiosyncratic personality and knack for mind-bending songwriting, of Montreal has proven to be the most popular act in the coterie.

Lately, of Montreal seems to have leap-frogged into another realm of public recognition; guest appearances by Janelle Monáe and Solange Knowles–who turned her sister Beyoncé into a fan–on their new record stand as testament to the band’s weirdly skyrocketing popularity. (“Weird” not because it is undeserved, rather only because it had seemed so unlikely.) The new album in question is the thirteen track False Priest, which was co-produced by Barnes and Jon Brion and will set sail under the stewardship of the good folks at Polyvinyl Records on September 14th.

False Priest‘s third track is “Coquet Coquette,” a fast-paced jam launched by a rapidly picked guitar riff and anchored throughout by a squiggly bass line. Lyrically, Barnes is in typical form, as when he tells the titular flirt, “I don’t wanna catch you with some other guy’s face under your eyelids,” before reminding her “my teenage love for you is so beautiful.” As the song continues on, the musical backdrop becomes increasingly frantic and layered, with a platoon of wailing synthesizers sounding off like whales in distress amid cymbal crashes. By of Montreal’s own corybantic standards, “Coquet Coquette” is a relatively focused affair, but it’s also a galvanic one, filled with a multitude of miniature thrills. A show-stopper in short form, this song makes big promises for the rest of False Priest.