"Of Montreal Brings Glam Back"

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

Polyvinyl Records, 2007
Produced by: Kevin Barnes


1. Suffer For Fashion
2. Sink The Seine
3. Cato As A Pun
4. Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
5. Gronlandic Edit
6. A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
7. The Past Is A Grotesque Animal
8. Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider
9. Faberge Falls For Shuggie
10. Labyrinthian Pomp
11. She's A Rejecter
12. We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling

The latest offering from the Georgia based glam-rock band, fronted by Kevin Barnes is a self-proclaimed auto-biographical tale of depression, isolation and suicide, delving into Barnes’ twisted psyche. Written and tracked by Barnes in isolation between Norway and Athens, Georgia, the album is a direct reflection of his life at the time. This album is a significant departure from Of Montreal’s other material and it manages to separate itself as they create what might amount to one of the best records of the year, and a true glam-rock masterpiece. Between the twisted themes and lyrics on the album, and the style which is emanating from every note it is difficult not to be deeply impressed by this album between its highs and lows.

The album kicks off with the track ‘Suffer For Fashion’ which begins bizarrely enough with a baby cooing, however what follows after this is a charged, electronic gem of a song. The music manages to keep up with Barnes’ truly bizarre lyrics and structure, which seem to defy logic, “We’ve got to keep our little clique clicking at 130 bpm it’s not too slow!” Barnes’ swoons over the chorus, and while making sense of the lyrics may not be easy, the catchiness more than makes up for it. Seamlessly following is the next track ‘Sink the Seine’ which slows album down, Barnes’ voice adopting a liquid quality as he softly sings his way through this track which serves as an introduction for ‘Cato as a Pun’. Keeping the same flow through this track the lyrics come off as being frankly honest, including when they come to a dead stop as he asks “Is that too much to ask?” of wanting to be left alone.

The next track shifts the tone album, beginning with ‘Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse’ with an uplifting electronic introduction which leads into the moving lyrics, delving into a chemical addiction and others attempts to help him out of it. Flowing into the bass heavy introduction to ‘Gronlandic Edit’ which hinges on isolation and plain frustration with religion, which Barnes croons out over the fantastic back beat, managing to convey his impressive vocal range. Following this excellent track is another standout with “A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger” which begins with a very serene, lounge like backing track, which transforms into an electronic heavy serenade as Barnes begins the heavily auto-biographical track, “I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway.” Moving from the false glee of this song, the next track serves as the intermission to the album, a lengthy beat heavy track which details the transformation of Kevin Barnes into his Glam-Rock alter ego, Georgie Fruit. His vocals transforming into simple spoken word phrases over the spacey back track, which gradually grows in intensity over the course of the track until dissolving entirely.

Kicking off with swirling electronics ‘Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider’ deals with Barnes’ staving off an unwanted approach from a woman, dipping into his disdain for what passes for artistry. Knocking through the chorus “…You will never have me. To me you’re just some faggy girl, and I need a lover with soul power.” A good example of the highly personal tales contained within the album. Barnes unleashes the range of his voice in the next track ‘Faberge Falls For Shuggie’ practically forcing out the lyrics over the disjointed and broken back track, lending for a frantic song, which comes off as a taste of the entire album in one song. The next song comes off as the pure definition of their genre, shining as a perfect example of what all electro-glam-pop bands should aspire for. This leads into the crowning track of the album, which is the amazing ‘She’s a Rejecter’ which brings the album to its most gleeful and jaded nature, a truly manic song about wanting to take revenge on a girl who rejected him. It shows Barnes at his most forceful, the chorus “There’s the girl that left me bitter, want to pay some other girls to just walk up to her and hit her” ends in him belting out “…but I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!”. Following this is the concluding track of the album, which following the unrestrained energy of the previous track simply doesn’t come off as well.

This is an amazing CD, and an honest frank tale of Kevin Barnes’ experiences while he was writing it. It manages to be one of the most solid albums that I’ve listened to in a long time, and one which definitely deserves to be listened to in its entirety as even its songs are structured together. Do yourself a favour and make sure you do not pass up this CD.

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