Album Review: of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks
of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks (Polyvinyl, 2012)
By Alex
On Paralytic Stalks of Montreal (Kevin Barnes) deliver paranoid confessionals with songs whose arrangements change at a manic pace. This isn’t always a bad thing. Paralytic Stalks is an album created by Barnes for Barnes, and one can tell by the length of most of the tracks on it. Barnes doesn’t want you to listen. He doesn’t want you to dance. He wants you to sit and pay attention. It’s hard not to.
The first track, “Gelid Ascent” begins as a slow burning question mark. You’re not sure where it’s headed, and to be honest it could end up badly. Until Barnes’ underwater sounding monologue turns into the most rocking track on the album. As an album opener it’s a great track because it gives a glimpse into the varied sounds on the album, just in a more compressed package.
“Spiteful Intervention” follows “Gelid Ascent” as Barnes’ most confessional song on the album. It sounds like he’s speak-singing directly from notes jotted down from his journal. Which, you know, is probably not far from the truth. It is also a very self-deprecating song lyrically, like pretty much every other song on the album. Ironically, it’s one of the most fun to listen to because it has a psychedelically elegant string arrangement. Making it very similar to The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life”. Speaking of Beatles influence, “Malefic Dowery” sounds like something any of the Fab Four could have written, and I mean that as a compliment. In an album so wrought with self loathing and paranoia, it’s also one of the most positive songs. Unfortunately, of Montreal refuses to get positive and dance-party worth at the same time on this album. In other words, don’t expect anything to sound like 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins.
“Wintered Debts” begins with an acoustic guitar and Barnes’ voice is eerily similar to Elliott Smith’s. In the same song, the sound changes from an acoustic guitar to the usual of Montreal fare to a folkish twang. Which is a part of the genius of Kevin Barnes. Not many people can make a 7 minute song include so many different sounding things at once and do it right. Unfortunately, not all of the songs on the album are as entrancing. Like I mentioned before, Barnes wrote this album by himself, for himself. Obviously, some artists can seclude themselves into this type of songwriting and come out with a spectacular album. In this case, it would have been necessary to have a few more people around. The input of others would have allowed Barnes to hone in the better parts of a song and get rid of the more aloof, confusing ones. If Kevin Barnes allows more collaboration or gets a little less paranoid, this will definitely be something to look forward to on a new album. For now, just fast forward until you find to your favorite parts on Paralytic Stalks’ nine tracks.
7/10
Songs I Starred on Spotify:
- Spiteful Intervention
- We Will Commit Wolf Murder
- Malefic Dowery
- Wintered Debts
