Reprinted from Flagpole Magazine
August 20, 1997
by Mark Pilvinsky

David Lynch was once asked if there was one technological improvement that he would love to see invented for the filmmaking process. After thinking this one over for a moment, he said he wished he could simply plug his head into a machine and have the images from his mind shown directly on the wall. Kevin Barnes, from the local band Of Montreal, has come awfully close to achieving Lynch's dream.

That is, Cherry Peel is probably the closest he'll come to making the sounds in his head stick properly -- and undiluted -- onto magnetic tape. There was no studio involved in Cherry Peel, no bigtime Producer, and hardly any record label involvement until the record was completely finished. Barnes recorded demo versions of all these songs -- often playing every instrument and completely arranging the songs before any of his bandmates ever heard them -- and later re-recorded the songs with the aid of other musicians (though he still played the bulk of the instruments).

Cherry Peel suffers somewhat from Of Montreal's staunchly anti-studio viewpoint -- "Don't Ask Me to Explain," "Sleeping in the Beetle Bug," and "This Feeling" are great songs that would have benefited enormously from better engineering -- but one of this record's many charms lies in the sheer warmth of D.I.Y. home recording.

What immediately leaps out to the first-time Of Montreal listener is the distinctly different viewpoint Barnes offers. He's not smug, he's not trying to be hip, he's not bitter, and he's not geeky for the sake of being so -- he's simply honest.

In one song, he lays his viewpoint bare: "I know there aren't too many people / Who allow themselves to say what they feel / So I was watching your eyes." The thing is, Barnes does say what he feels, whether that's singing the praises of a great friend, wishing Tim was born a girl because "I just never met a girl I liked half as much as you," or to say "I don't expect you to feel the same, but if you did, well that would be great." The search for a more perfect, more beautiful world is Barnes' lyrical goal, and songs like "When You're Loved Like You Are," "Springtime is the Season," and "Everything Disappears When You Come Around" are a damn good start.

Sonically, Cherry Peel is definitely a bit spotty, but there is so much to love about this record that such recording quality concerns seem petty. Cherry Peel is the work of a fantastic songwriter completely immersed in his element. It's one hell of a record.