Reprinted from Alternative Press
July 1999
by Marc Hawthorne

The name of Athens, Georgia, resident Kevin Barnes' project is actually a reference to a girl from Montreal he once loved and then lost. But given 0f Montreal's relative obscurity -- yes, there are more E6 bands than us the Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel and the Olivia Tremor Confrol -- it would actually make more sense if Barnes really were from a country that most Americans ignore.

Regardless of whether anyone gets it this time around (The Gay Parade is Of Montreal LP No.3 in as many years), Barnes has crafted an arresting and intriguing pop collage. Like many of his E6 compatriots (several of whom helped make this record), Barnes is an avid follower of Brian Wilson's sunshine pop, and it shows. What's also apparent on The Gay Parade is Barnes obsession with bending his music out of shape without damaging its inherent beauty. Over the course of 16 tracks, Barnes takes the listener on a euphoric trip through a demented fantasy land that includes Jaques Lamure, the volunteer fireman who longs to give his life saving a nice old man and his wife, a miniature philosopher whose day job at the Bank & Trust leaves him no time to read Nietzsche or Camus; and Nickee Coco, the young girl who falls asleep in an imaginary tree and isnt't found for weeks. No matter how far-fetched or ridiculous most of these stories appear on paper, Barnes, whose gentle yet solid voice could melt butter, brings every character to life in such a way that you're actually concerned about their fate by song's end. To quote Barnes' alter ego, Claude Robert, speaking for all the personalities found on The Gay Parade: "If you ever feel that in your life the moments of gaiety are too few, you can always come and visit us now that you know the way."