Although Kevin Barnes had been recording songs under this guise for a few years before moving to Athens, the first "band"
line-up consisted of Derek Almstead (now in Circulatory System) on drums & vocals,
Bryan Poole ( now in the Late B.P. Helium, ex- Elf Power) the on
bass & vocals and Kevin Barnes on guitar & vocals. Together they recorded the Cherry Peel
album in early 1997. (It was re-issued in late 1999, remixed and added to by the later 5 piece line-up of the band.)
The same line-up also recorded The Bird Who Ate The Rabbit's Flower EP.
After Bryan's departure to concentrate more on his involvement with Elf Power,
Derek moved to playing bass. Looking for a drummer and a keyboardist, Kevin found two new members. Jamey Huggins (drums)
and Dottie Alexander (keyboards) were drafted from another local band called Lightning Bug vs. Firefly.
Andy Gonzales (a member of The Music
Tapes and Marshmallow Coast) also joined the band at some point after that.
Of Montreal's second album, The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy was
released during the summer of 1998. Kevin sang and played most of the
instruments himself; Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel,
The Music Tapes) and Bryan Poole (The Late B.P. Helium)
both make a couple of uncredited appearances.
The Japanese record label 100 Guitar Mania released the Nicki Lighthouse single in August 1998.
Don't Ask Me To Explain was a re-recorded version of the Cherry Peel track and there were
contributions from Scott Spillane (The Gerbils, Neutral Milk
Hotel) and Peter Erchick (The Olivia Tremor Control,
Pipes you see, Pipes you don't) on this single.
Kindercore re-released The Bird Who Ate The Rabbit's Flower EP
as The Bird Who Continues To Eat The Rabbit's Flower in January 1999. The
existing tracks were remixed, remastered and had extra instrumentation added (with
contributions from Bryan (The Late B.P. Helium), Laura from Elf Power
and John from The Olivia Tremor Control). If I Faltered Slightly Twice was
re-recorded and there were also 3 additional tracks added.
The Gay Parade album was released in February 1999. The vinyl version came with an additional
7" single with 2 previously unreleased tracks - The Problem With April, a new track, and a cover of The
Gants' A Spoonful Of Sugar. All the characters mentioned within the album are depicted upon the
cover, drawn by Kevin's brother, David. Nickee Coco And The Invisible Tree concludes with a
singalong chorus made up of basically everybody who has anything to do with Elephant 6
East (The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk
Hotel, Elf Power, The Late B.P. Helium, The Gerbils,
fablefactory, Calvin, Don't Jump! and The Music Tapes).
Just to add to the confusion, there was a second pressing of the vinyl
version of The Gay Parade, which included another new song, True Friends
Don't Want To Do Things Like That instead of A Spoonful Of Sugar in November
of the same year.
The band also contributed a single to the Happy Happy Birthday To Me singles club; their release was
for November 1999, and includes the infamous "Hitler" track.
In May 2000, a compilation album entitled Horse & Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed) - The Singles
And Songles Album was released. It included several tracks released on various singles, bonus tracks on
Japanese releases, compilations and some unreleased songs, too.
Kindercore Records released a split single between the band and Marshmallow
Coast in June 2000 entitled Archibald Of The Balding Sparrows. They were sold at dates of the 2
bands' West Coast tour, which took place during June and July 2000.
In January 2001, a collection of older material that Kevin had recorded before moving to Athens was released
by Kindercore called The Early 4-Track Recordings. These songs are reminiscent of the Cherry Peel-era
recordings. Strangely all the song titles reference Dustin Hoffman whom Kevin credits with turning him to music
in the first place.
Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse, the band's fourth album was released
April 2001. The 22 track CD includes a 16 page full-color booklet of artwork by David Barnes as well as a fold-out
poster with lyrics. The album ends with an 18 minute piano opus. A double LP version was released later that year.
And of course most of the E6 East gang are credited
contributors (Great Lakes, Music Tapes, Thimble Circus,
Fablefactory, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Gerbils,
Elf Power, The Late B.P. Helium).
A split single with The Late B.P. Helium was released November 2001 on
Jonathan Whiskey Records. It features the song In a world full of treasures a black pygmi horse's head pops
up like a periscope. Only 250 copies were pressed.
In April 2002, a tour-only CD made by the band entitled If He Is Protecting Our Nation Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our
Children was released.
Aldhil's Arboretum was released September 2002. Scott Spillane (The Gerbils,
Neutral Milk Hotel), Heather McIntosh (The Instruments), and Jeremy Barnes
(Bablicon, Neutral Milk Hotel) all make guest appearances.
A single from the album for the song Jennifer Louise was released by Track & Field Organisation in February 2003.
The b-side is There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics.
In April 2003, Track & Field Organisation re-released If He Is Protecting Our Nation Who Will Protect
Big Oil, Our Children with a slightly different track-listing than the original release.
Also in 2003, there were many changes to the line-up. Andy left the band to spend more time on
Marshmallow Coast and go back to school. Kevin got married and
his wife, Nina, joined the group. Derek left the band to spend more time with
Circulatory System.
Their next album was recorded in the fall of 2003. The new album is more of a solo album then a
band project as Kevin recorded the majority of the instruments himself. In the spring of 2004, Bryan Poole
(the Late B.P. Helium) rejoined the band. Jason Nesmith also joined the line-up.
Satanic Panic In The Attic was released April 2004 on Polyvinyl Records in the US, Philter Records in Japan,
Low Transit Industries in Australia and Track & Field Organisation in Europe.
2005 saw the release of Sunlandic Twins and re-issues of many of the early albums.
Official web page: www.ofmontreal.net
Other projects involving Of Montreal members:
Marshmallow Coast, My First Keyboard, Great Lakes, the Late B.P. Helium, James Husband
