album #11

the sunlandic twins (of montreal)

This is one of the key records of my college years. There's a particular memory that has glowed for years- winter break 05/06, "The Party's Crashing Us" blaring as my car comes over the I35 horizon onto the Austin skyline, the UT Tower glowing orange.

I've always delighted in that particular song, the star song- bombastic, magnificently weird. "We made love like a pair of black wizards" is a lyric that absolutely rocked my world, back in the day. "Requiem for O.M.M.2" is another winner, a great classic guitar song to kick off an album that generally goes to a weirder, more electronic place. There are a lot of songs on this album I've always felt for; another is "Wraith Pinned to the Mist & Other Games," a chill, mellow melodic beauty, and a key song between me and my friend Brandon- I've always especially loved the sly, upbeat guitar that sneaks into the end of that one.

Altogether I've always liked the rhythms of this album, the synthetic tingles- something a little bit Pee Wee Herman about it. The second half of the album gets lower, deeper, less energized, closing with the lovely "The Repudiated Immortals." The Bonus EP tracks, which weren't part of the CD I loved as a 19 year old, aren't particular favorites of mine. When the weirdness doesn't quite work, Of Montreal often just sounds like a chirpy, verbose tangle, and a few of those EP tracks slip into that zone.

Altogether though, this is my favorite Of Montreal record, and it's essentially beyond review, being such a classic of the good ol' days.