of Montreal - Cherry Peel

Before the glitter and the costume changes, of Montreal made Cherry Peel, a 1997 debut full of sixties pop sweetness, tape hiss and wide-open heartache. This LP comes with a digital download card.

Kevin Barnes made much of the record at home on an eight-track reel-to-reel, choosing the warmth of a homemade sound over studio polish. Released on Bar/None, it arrived as the Athens, Georgia scene around the Elephant 6 collective was earning a reputation for lo-fi records with big melodic ambition, and Cherry Peel fits right in, all fuzzy harmonies and toy-box charm.

The songs are short and lovesick. Everything Disappears When You Come Around opens with a rush of jangly guitar and a melody that sticks on first listen. Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl is as funny and tender as its title suggests, while I Can't Stop Your Memory brings in the full band for a brighter, bouncier turn. The closing You've Got a Gift, the longest song here, takes its time and lets the arrangement drift.

Barnes would reinvent the band several times over the following decades, chasing glam and funk into stranger corners.

For fans who came in through the later records, this is the sweet, scruffy origin story, and it still sounds charmingly handmade.