Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks (Polyvinyl, 2012)

Of Montreal

Paralytic Stalks

Polyvinyl

2012

Rating: 7 ignorant hippopotamuses out of 10

My love of Of Montreal has greatly waned over the last decade, as they have transformed from a catchy, quirky pop band into some sort of over-the-top, musical theater-inspired disco pop band.  It's not that this new version of the group is making bad music, it's just not the band I fell in love with and it's not moved in a direction that I would hope they would have moved in (much of this could also apply to Wilco, My Morning Jacket, and a host of other acts).  "Growing" your sound is understandable, it's just things have grown in a way I can't fully get behind.  

Which leaves me to say something about this newest record by the band, "Paralytic Stalks"...well, one positive mark I'll give it is it's a little less, well, dancey than their last couple of records.  I've never been big on dancey music.  There's more guitars, louder drums, a bigger sound altogether.  I think that adds up to the descriptor "rocking."  My gut feeling after the first listen is it sounds like the "Flaming Lips"-ized their sound.  It's still Of Montreal, but has a chunk of space-rock-opera infused throughout.  I like it...not as much as I liked their really catchy early pop phase, but much more than the disco years.  Maybe this is where I get back into the band?  Time will tell.  It's a good start though.