Of Montreal
Mandeville Auditorium
Nov. 10 / 8 p.m. / $15

"When I look at you guys, all I see is sandwiches — delicious
sandwiches,” Jackson O’Connell-Barlow of Grand Buffet admitted to the Los
Angeles crowd when the band opened for Of Montreal back in 2005 — and come
Saturday, Nov. 10, they’re back together at UCSD, along with glam Brooklynites
MGMT. O’Connell-Barlow’s bizarre interludes and kitchen-sink surrealist humor —
touching on poignant topics like golden retrievers, tan lines and Bethlehem —
spill over the synth-heavy hip-hop production of Jarrod Weeks, a.k.a. Lord
Grunge, with whom he shares the stage.

New kids on the bill MGMT channel David Bowie’s falsetto and
’70s arena anthems through an electro-pop filter. Mystical rambler “Of Moons,
Birds & Monsters” makes it easy to understand why founding members Ben
Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden signed a deal with Columbia after only one
EP. Now they’re a touring five-piece, able to recreate their swooping pads,
multi-track vocals and other space-jam ingredients in a live setting.

And then comes the sexually ambiguous climax. Kevin Barnes
and his troupe of elegantly dressed bandmates make up Of Montreal, a set of
near-twee, borderline A.D.D. Georgians who recently decided to go introspective
and tragically glam, persuading a whole new wave of fans to jump on the gravy
train. On old recordings, the band devised conceptual tracks with vaudevillian
pace, detailing fictional characters like Mimi Merlot and Mr. Edminton.
Highlights from this year’s renowned Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? like
“She’s a Rejector” shine with a metallic precision but drip with animal
urgency, highlighting Barnes’ inclination towards the rigidity of computerized
beats, but still safely within the lighthearted tone palette of indie-pop.
Barnes’ lyrics on the album, which was recorded in the wintry gloom of Norway,
take a dark turn from the whimsical stories of yore, instead divulging his
chemical depression, relationship troubles and spiritual yearning. Prepare
yourself for a myriad of costume changes and pelvic thrusts.

Barnes is already hard at work on Fauna’s follow-up, which
will supposedly contain hundreds of 30- to 50-second song segments collaged
into a cohesive album, tentatively titled Skeletal Lamping — and there’s a good
chance that some of the new material will be showcased this weekend. With a
schedule of bands aligned in their desire to get people on the dance floor,
students have no excuse to ditch campus Saturday night.