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Of Montreal / Black Kids
London, ULU
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Article
written by Ged M
Dec 20, 2007.
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I’ve seen Of Montreal in London many times over the past few years in venues ranging from the Betsy Trotwood to Cargo and always recognised long term OM fans in the audience. ULU is the biggest gig I’ve seen them play and I don’t know anyone – the audience is 95% students and a few random others who clearly don’t go to many gigs. This is reinforced by sight of the merch stall, which offers only the three most recent albums, majoring on Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, which clearly has been the main attraction for the sold out crowd.
I’m trying not to be an indie-snob but it’s the least good gig I’ve seen them play (Cargo in May this year was far better). They play all of Hissing Fauna… - kicking off with the splendid 11 minute krautrocking ‘Past is a Grotesque Animal’ - and the most discopop songs from the last two records: ‘So Begins Our Alabee’, ‘Rapture Rapes the Muses’, ‘The Party’s Crashing Us’, ‘Suffer For Fashion’, ‘She’s A Rejecter’ etc. It’s meant to be spectacular – Jamey Huggins is dressed as a hobbit, Kevin Barnes starts by looking like a pierrot and then goes offstage to (cross) dress in hotpants and stockings - but while there’s a sense of performance it’s never spontaneous. I’ve never seen them encore without a cover version but they do tonight, ensuring that the focus is on the product at the merch table and in the shops. That sounds carping because the songs are fabulous and Hissing Fauna…, though flawed, is one of the year’s highlights, and they’ve worked hard for their success. But tonight they could be any decent band, not the once mighty Of Montreal. And I say that with all the regret of a former lover.
Black Kids surf in on a wave of hype. From Jacksonville, Florida, they really are kids and at first seem pretty shaky in this big venue. Then they seem to settle down and get very animated, reminding me of the Go! Team when everyone is joining in ecstatically. Musically it’s the Cure married to Chic, with some funky Queen basslines acting as bridesmaids, and all the songs seem to be some variant of a theme on dancing. Some of us remain unconvinced and some of us like it and want to hear more, which is possible now that their ‘Wizard of Ahhhs EP’ is available for free download from www.blackkidsmusic.com
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