Of Montreal Finally Broke Through with “The Sunlandic Twins”
The first-ever audiophile treatment given to the indie pop legends
In just under ten years, songwriter/instrumentalist/vocalist Kevin Barnes transformed Of Montreal from a unified collective to a one-person operation. Having churned out whimsical baroque pop albums like Cherry Peel and The Gay Parade within the confinements of a band, Barnes took to working solo by dabbling in sonic experimentation and, inspired by their first marriage to Nina Grøttland, started writing in a more personal style. The initial fruits of this new direction resulted in 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic, which included heavy usage of synthesizers and drum machines.
The Sunlandic Twins, released in 2005, came about amidst uncertain circumstances surrounding Of Montreal. Kevin Barnes doubted the group’s future and suspected the tour supporting Satanic Panic would be their last due to Nina Grøttland’s pregnancy with their daughter, Alabee. While she fled to her home country of Norway and prepared to give birth, Barnes stayed home in Athens, Georgia, to finish work on the album. Fearing the album would fall on deaf ears and leave themselves seeking an alternate career path, the final result was one of Barnes’ most inspired works. Outside of the usual uncertainties and fears that come with the territory, Barnes embraced impending fatherhood and their daughter in the very aptly titled, “So Begins Our Alabee.” They also put the listener through a set of traveler’s eyes as they observe their future domestic surroundings on “Oslo in the Summertime.” Amidst a flurry of personal change, “Requiem of O.M.M.2” reflects on Of Montreal’s simpler times before Barnes’ life would shift into an entirely different trajectory.
Of Montreal’s career up until 2005 amounted to a lack of commercial success, leaving them to local legend status at their stomping ground of Athens’ 40 Watt Club. In an interesting twist of fate, The Sunlandic Twins became Of Montreal’s first critically acclaimed album. Audiences grew in size, and tracks like “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)” and “The Party’s Crashing Us” became long-time concert staples. Kevin Barnes found the album’s success and tour to be a release from the harsh realities of adult responsibilities that awaited back home.
The 20th anniversary pressing of The Sunlandic Twins features Kevin's brother David Barnes’ stunning psychedelic artwork presented for the first time on a gold holographic jacket. Adding bang for the buck is the 12-page booklet, packed with expanded artwork, liner notes, lyrics, track-by-track annotation, artwork sketches, memorabilia, and photos. Each record comes housed in custom fiery printed cardstock sleeves, matching the flames on the front cover. The standard edition comes on ruby red vinyl, but what’s noteworthy is Polyvinyl’s web store exclusive “early bird edition” limited to 750 and pressed on “solar flare” splatter vinyl. The free MP3 download card provides the remastered album and a plethora of supplementary material, such as b-sides, rarities, remixes, and a live show from 2006.
Outside of the deluxe vinyl presentation, this is the first time The Sunlandic Twins received a digital remaster. As opposed to the flat-sounding original master heard on previous pressings, this remaster comes across as more dynamic with a hint of warmness to the top end. This pressing is also the first time Of Montreal can be heard in a fitting audiophile fashion: mastered at half speed and cut at 45rpm across 2LPs.
Stylistically, The Sunlandic Twins roots itself in electronic music with dance, synth-pop, and psych-rock elements. Half-speed mastering has discrepancies in the bottom end, but the slick bass lines throughout the album are more punchy and percussive. The more live-sounding tracks, particularly “Requiem for O.M.M.2” and “Forecast Fascist Future,” are the moments where the bass is left sounding boomy to the ears. Kevin Barnes has a fine-tuned ear for arrangements, albeit vocal harmonically or instrumentally, and this pressing allows the listener to appreciate those intricacies to a high degree. Many aural surprises, such as textured acoustic guitars, airy percussion flourishes, sweet Mellotron strings, and well separated counter melodies, are featured throughout this album. Barnes’ vocals are versatile in different forms, between the better enunciation on “I Was Never Young,” the filtered confrontational style on “I Was A Landscape in Your Dream,” and the warm artificial double tracking on “Death of a Shade of a Hue.” There are moments where the instrumentation is relentless, the synthesizer solo on “The Party’s Crashing Us” being, in a phrase, in-your-face!
Kevin Barnes’ reinvigorated approach to writing about more relative and personal themes perhaps struck a note with listeners. The 20th anniversary of The Sunlandic Twins, an album synonymous with the start of Of Montreal’s commercially successful streak, is a firm occasion to hear the album in the best possible fashion.
