Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins

Oh Kevin Barnes, thank you for delivering yet again. I didn't doubt that you could follow up last year's Satanic Panic in the Attic with something as good as this, but even the best have an occasional lapse of talent. You've not let me down. Hopefully you're familiar with the psychedelic pop stylings that Of Montreal (Kevin Barnes) has been creating so well over the past few years, but if not, The Sunlandic Twins isn't a bad place to start. Listening to an Of Montreal record is akin to floating through Neverland and Wonderland, except the pirates would be dropping acid, Peter Pan and Captain Hook would be frolicking hand in...hook, and the Mad Hatter would probably be about the same as he is now. There's such a sunshiny quality to Of Montreal, everything seems so bright and carefree, but every song is crafted so as to ingrain itself in your mind while still making you hear its bizarre qualities. When explaining this group to those who've not heard them, I feel it's easiest to say that they're the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds tossed into a mixer with the Beatles' later work, then moved ahead some thirty or so years. Barnes expands on his use of synthesizers and drum machines, and never fails to be exemplary of the word "quirky." Add in brassy salsa breakdowns, excellent use of vocal tracks and harmonies, and you've got something that's on a par with anything Kevin Barnes has ever done. I definitely recommend this record, as I can see it being one of my favorites of 2005, and if you've got a lot of gloom in your life, put down the twelve or so bucks to buy this instead of that Prozac prescription. [www.ofmontreal.net]