Of Montreal

Skeletal Lamping

Wed Dec 24, 2008 | 12:00am

For the not so faint of heart, the latest offering from Georgia’s Of Montreal is pure tripped-out electro pop gold. Since forming in 1997, frontman Kevin Barnes has provided the band’s attention-getting, Freddie Mercury-inspired shtick-and Lamping is no exception. The sexually ambiguous nature of Barnes’s stage persona, Georgie Fruit, plays a huge role throughout the disk and, at times, acts as the only true glue that holds the thing together. Where “An Eluardian Influence” flirts with marching band instrumentation and whimsical references to childhood, funk-fueled ditties like “For Our Elegant Caste” and “Gallery Piece” are pure, dance-y ruminations on Fruit’s over-the-top perversions. By the end, Lamping overcomes its lack of obvious direction through the band’s liberal use of synth, hand claps, and drum machines, but it’s Barnes who truly carries the record. Need proof? Check out the Bowie-esque, falsetto-driven start to “Women’s Studies Victims.”

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