Indie pop/rock band Of Montreal hail from Athens, Georgia and formed in 1996 by Kevin Barnes, who allegedly named the band after a failed romance with a woman of Montreal. Together with Derek Almstead and Bryan Poole, they recorded their debut album Cherry Peel, which saw its release in 1997.

Since their debut release the band has released a further eight full-length albums, with their latest being 2008’s Skeletal Lamping. Kevin Barnes spoke of the album saying “This record is my attempt to bring all of my puzzling, contradicting, disturbing, humorous fantasies, ruminations and observations to the surface, so that I can better dissect and understand their reason for being in my head. Hence the title, Skeletal Lamping”. Lamping is the name of a hunting technique of using a powerful beam to dazzle animals to the extent that they can be approached closely and collected, inspected or shot.

The band’s style has been known to fluctuate between albums. To begin with, the band embraced a simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound and later moved to a fuller, more produced sound. 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic saw the band drift to a more electronic sound, whilst in the band’s recent releases their sound showcases a sort of techno/pop/glam edge.

Of Montreal will soon be releasing their tenth album, titled False Priest. The album is scheduled for release on 14th September. The album also features guest appearances by Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles and marks the return of organic instruments.

See Of Montreal perform live at Manchester Academy 2 on Tuesday 5th October.