as an ambitious, theatrical record, skeletal lamping has of montreal reaching for more challenging heights, bringing their music to campier extremes. their music is a hybrid of so many different styles and influences that it’s at times very difficult to hang on for the ride; however, there is little doubt in my mind that this band is sonically ahead of its time. even the personal exorcisms that take place on this album are both exciting and exhausting. of montreal are so unabashedly campy and fun that you can’t help but enjoy yourself while listening to this record, which helps to ground all of the commotion when it threatens to lose its centre. the problem with campiness (or glam, in this instance) though, is that it’s very difficult to find a convincing balance between self-indulgence and modesty, and unfortunately, skeletal lamping finds of montreal in a place where this balance is not fully realized —not to say that the record is without its merits, as songs like “touched something’s hollow” and “an eludarian instance” are clever combinations of wit and depth— but the album’s sheer pace alone makes it difficult to discern at times whether or not kevin barnes is being ironic or sincere as he sings. the problem with that kind of uncertainty is that the songs are too silly to be taken seriously, and reading them as being purely ironic makes him seem as though he’s being exploitave of the highly sexual situations within the narrative.
Filed under: Album Review , 2008, kevin barnes, of montreal, skeletal lamping
