There’s Just No Pattern There

of Montreal “We Will Commit Wolf Murder”

The emotional stakes on of Montreal records are through the roof under normal circumstances, but even with that frame of reference, Paralytic Stalks seems unusually tortured and hysterical. In context, “We Will Commit Wolf Murder” is a milder number, though its instantly satisfying melody sweetens the codependent sentiment and fearful misanthropy of Kevin Barnes’ words, and it eventually spirals off into a violent, panicked outro. As dark as this gets, Barnes can’t help but play up his surreal nightmare visions for oddball humor, or throw in lines like “I tried to understand his logic but there’s just no pattern there” that could just as well be a critique of his music from a skeptical listener. I understand why, even with the benefit of gorgeous melodies and funky bass, Barnes’ recent music could be too dense to handle for a lot of people, but I think if you can get on his wavelength, the pattern is there. It’s fairly obvious in this one, anyway – it’s hard not to notice when someone’s scraping the lowest depths of their self-loathing on record.

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