“Dour Percentage,” the newly released track from Of Montreal’s eleventh album Paralytic Stalks sweeps the listener off to a warehouse party where hipsters and club kids meet to dance.

The track contains all of the histrionic quirks that the Athens, Georgia based group has made its name on, with humorously sardonic lyrics that are a mixture of four letter expletives and three syllable words that could be straight out of an SAT prep book. Innocent-sounding swirling woodwinds and soaring vocal “Oos” and “Ahs” frame lyrics about jaded, embittered lost loves and the cruder side of sexuality, the effect being the type of hilarious four and a half minute operetta that Of Montreal is known and loved for.

Ironically, this track is far less “dour” than the LP’s entertaining yet sharply self-loathing first release “Wintered Debts.” Although previous albums produced at an impressive rate since1997 have maintained a relatively happy, modern-disco vibe, an interview with frontman Kevin Barnes in Q Magazine suggests that the darker elements seen in “Wintered Debts” may be closer to the norm of this album than the more traditional sound of “Dour Percentage.” Revealing a struggle with depression, Barnes says that he poured many of his darker emotions into this album, calling it “the most chaotic mess of ideas and emotions I have ever put together.” The entire interview can be viewed at http://news.qthemusic.com/2012/01/qa_of_montreals_kevin_barnes_o.html

Though “Dour Percentage” is exactly the type of irreverent fun that we look for from Of Montreal, it smacks a bit of “haven’t we heard this before?” We’ll continue to dance the night away in sequined shorts to tracks like this while anticipating the band’s darker side which promises to expose itself on the album available February seven. Tracks are available for free download on the group’s website http://www.ofmontreal.net/