Album Review: Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer

[MEbenhoe]

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer

If you are a traditionalist, look elsewhere, this album is not for you. Now if you like synthesizer heavy music, with a computerized feel at times, this may be just the thing for you. Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer is an upbeat album full of songs that would make great dance beats. At face value this would seem to clash with the albums overriding theme of heartbreak, but it works.

A major drawback for most of the album is the abrasive voice of the lead singer, which at times sounds like nails scratching on a chalkboard and really takes away from the simply outstanding beats that are the overriding force of the album. What makes it worse is that there are a few songs like "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse", "Past is a Grotesque Animal, The", and "She's a Rejecter" where he stops screeching for a moment and shows the ability to actually be a great lead. This may be more of a problem for me than most, as a singer's voice can often make or break an album for me that I'm otherwise borderline on. In the case of Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer, the beats are so consistenly good that I managed to be able to mostly overlook this flaw.

"Past is a Grotesque Animal, The" stands out on the album, not only for its length at a whopping 11:53, but as the darkest song on the album (which isn't saying much), and Of Montreal's most emotional effort on the album. My personal favorite of the album though is "She's the Rejecter". It is the most well put together song of the album, with a great hook and one of the best vocal performances of the album.

Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer is a futuristic sounding, unique, artsy type album. It may take you a listen or two to really get into, and some just never will. The super indie crowd will likely fawn all over it. I find myself somewhere in between, appreciative, but turned off at times. Even still about half the album will probably find its way into my regular listening rotation.

Rating: 7.8/10

Scale
1 – Please destroy all copies of this album so that I don’t have to ever go through listening to this again
2 – Lacks anything good to say about it, but at least it doesn’t put me in pain to hear it
3 – Shows some bright signs, but overall lacks enough good content
4 – A below average entry, lacks uniqueness and relistenability
5 – Average, entertaining at times, but overall nothing special
6 – Slightly Above Average, entertaining with decent relistenability
7 – Above Average, very entertaining
8 – Great Overall Album
9 – One of the Year’s best, Nearing all time Great Status
10 – An Absolutely Perfect Album in every way

[kidcolin]

I'm mostly unfamiliar with Of Montreal, only hearing of them when Nath mentioned them after I made a post about Athens, GA ruling for music. So I dug them up online and their website was cool enough to host this album in its entirety (not sure if its still there.. I hope more bands start doing this).

My feelings are mostly on par with yours. I think it's good, not great. I listened to it a few times through. I think it starts off really strongly, but after a while it all just gets to be too much, with some songs (or parts of songs) really off-putting. But it piqued my interest enough that I'll probably go check out the rest of their catalog at some point.

[El Diablo]

M,

Would be great if you could compare/contrast to a couple of slightly more familiar indie bands/albums in these posts.

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
M,

Would be great if you could compare/contrast to a couple of slightly more familiar indie bands/albums in these posts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to take the baton from Matt for a sec, Of Montreal are an Elephant 6 band, so you can compare them to Olivia Tremor Control, Beulah, & The Apples In Stereo -- not so much Neutral Milk Hotel and Elf Power.

I haven't heard this record, but the past releases by Of Montral have been half melodic pop awesomeness and half unlistenable shrieking garbage. Which half dominates this record, MEB?

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]

I haven't heard this record, but the past releases by Of Montral have been half melodic pop awesomeness and half unlistenable shrieking garbage. Which half dominates this record, MEB?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would say you'd likely be turned off by this album as the "shreeking" can become a bit much at times, but that it would still be worth a listen as theres a few gems you'll probably like, including the three tracks I mentioned in the review.

[nath]

How's it compare to The Sunlandic Twins? I loved that one.

[Macdaddy Warsaw]

I think this album really gains something from knowing Of Montreal's full catalog. Watching them go from early super-sunny pop songs to Hissing Fauna is remarkable. I love Kevin Barnes voice so I don't think it comes across as bad (if you like Doug Martsch's voice, I don't see how Kevin barnes can be grating). Besides his voice, Kevin Barnes is without a doubt the best lyricist I can think of in current music, partially for his absurd vocabulary and partially because he writes great songs.

More recently, you can follow the growth from Satanic Panic in the Attic (which Matt should listen to because it's far less electronic and I think he would like it more) to Sunlandic Twins where they experiment more, put in the beats, get the electric guitars out. Finally, they put out Hissing Fauna, which is totally dark, so electronic...It's just remarkable for a band that's been around so long to keep experimenting instead of going with a tried and true method.

Also, it's interesting that on Sunlandic Twins Kevin Barnes puts a song on about the birth of his child (So Begins Our Alabee) and then Hissing Fauna is influenced primarily by his divorce. I think it's all so powerful.

Although I think the songs you list are good, my standouts are actually "Suffer for Fashion", "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger", and "Bunny Ain't no Kind of Rider".

This album has the potential to be in my top 10 this year, even though 2007 looks like it will be a good year for music.

EDIT: Nath, to directly answer your question...they carry out the electronic experimentalism they started on Sunlandic Twins and carry it out to the extreme. It's very good, but I don't believe the songs are as poppy.

EDIT 2: I mentioned it above, but if you really want to hear the poppy side of Of Montreal, listen to Satanic Panic in the Attic.

[cobrakai111]

Just to follow up on Joker's mention of the E6 family if anyone is not familiar with bands from them. Of Montreal is one of the bands that falls under its umbrella. This was one of my favorite labels growing up and what truely popped my indie cherry along with Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. They had a habit of signing bands with very innovative and original sounds. None of them ever became huge but many developed large cult followings. One of the most acclaimed albums ever Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel came from them (although reviewing that album could probably be a huge thread in itself) http://www.elephant6.com/bands.html

I don't know much about the new album yet besides what I heard via there website http://www.ofmontreal.net/flashsite/index.html I do know that they are very energetic and live and even if you don't love the albums the shows are fun as hell.

[Claunchy]

I just checked this album out, and while I thought it was just okay, I enjoyed the weird noisy parts more than the poppier parts.

The poppy stuff just kinda sounded like the New Pornographers or something; I dunno, it was just okay.

[thatpfunk]

nath,
i think its quite a bit better than sunlandic although i like both alot.

el d,
the closest band i can think of is Hot Chip. They both rely on strangely placed/worded "ironic" lyrics, driving electronic experimentation, and poprock roots.

also the contrast between the singers voice and the music is one of my favorite aspects of this band so i couldnt disagree more with meb's criticism. im actually going to see them tonight. im hoping they live up to Hot Chip's show which was extremely fun.

[MattSuspect]

Good review sir. I just listened to it for the first time, pretty awesome. I love the Sunlandic Twins, otherwise known as the album with the OutBack song.

I don't have the actual cd yet, but I heard the packaging to this one is sick, can you confirm?

[Jack of Arcades]

the best cd of the year so far.

Lemme add some more thoughts:

The album grows on you. I find that all of the Of Montreal albums do. The obvious poppy stuff catches you right away, and then the unlistenable shrieking becomes awesome.

Here's the video for the first single: Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse (http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VeIL7juFE0). Best song on the CD, but it's a pretty good sample of the band.

Finally, they are AWESOME live. They played forever, and everyone knew the words to even the obscure songs in Baton Rouge (really!) They even covered Diana Ross and Prince to give you an idea of where their roots are.

[MEbenhoe]

MacDaddy,

I like Doug Martsch's vocals a lot better than Kevin Barnes', because I like how Martsch's flows with the music more imo.

Claunchy,

I don't see the New Pornographers comparison at all, could you give me a specific song you think sounds like them?

pfunk,

As I said in the OP, grating lead vocals tend to bother me more than most.

All,

next review will be The Shins - Wincing the Night Away, expect by Friday.

[cobrakai111]

Here is an old show if anyone wants to get a feel for how Of Montreal sounds live http://www.elephant6.com/sound.html. A whole bunch of concerts from E6 bands on that page.

[kidcolin]

JoA,

It's still January! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Jack of Arcades]

yeah, but kc, I've been listening to this album for like 6 months already!

[CIncyHR]

Just downloaded from emusic, ill give it a listen later today.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, but kc, I've been listening to this album for like 6 months already!

[/ QUOTE ]

holla, ty joa.

[nath]

[ QUOTE ]
they are AWESOME live.

[/ QUOTE ]]
Seconded. Saw them at Emo's in Austin at last year's South by Southwest, and once before that in Houston. I appreciated the second show more because I was more familiar with their catalog, but the first one was great and was what first got me into them.

That goddamn Outback song breaks my heart every time I hear it, though. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[bozzer]

if you're going to give nitty decimal point ratings, could we plz have more pretentious crap in the reivew to prove you're not a geek?

appreciate the review.

[jaustin]

[ QUOTE ]
M,

Would be great if you could compare/contrast to a couple of slightly more familiar indie bands/albums in these posts.

[/ QUOTE ]
FWIW, I think Of Montreal is a very familiar indie band. They're certainly one of the best known "indie" (using the word as a genre, a.k.a. indie rock) bands that's actually independent (signed to Polyvinyl, not a major). Bands like the Decemberists may have an "indie" sound, but they're mainstream and signed to a major label.

So yeah, I would consider Of Montreal up there with Broken Social Scene, Interpol, and Bloc Party as far as popularity/name recognition go for an "indie" band (there's that ubiquitous term again).

[thatpfunk]

trip report from last nights show:

it was awesome. went with my gf, my roomate and his gf.

the show was at an all ages venue (big meh) so the doors opened at 7 with The Blow coming on at 8.

We leave the house and head to Wahoos. I get two shrimp tacos, rice, beans, and an Endless Summer Ale.
http://static.flickr.com/66/180119733_0c800caf7a_m.jpg
The gf got chicken enchiladas with green sauce and they were excellent as well.

We have a few beers, consider going for drinks somewhere else and then we remember that we're old and most of us (ty poker) have work tomorrow. However a few of us indulge
http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/spliff-3988.jpg

We enter the venue about 8:15 and Im feeling great. The show is on the sidestage and it is packed. The openers were just... strange? A on stage was simply a girl and a microphone. She was singing and dancing to heavy techno/rap beats. It was bizarre, super personal, and pretty entertaining. Take a poor man's Dresden Dolls and mix them with a bad Atmosphere song and Napolean Dynamite dance moves and you have The Blow.

She finishes up and of Montreal rolls on around 930. They do not look to let down my expectations. http://myspace-565.vo.llnwd.net/01531/56/59/1531909565_l.jpg
The bass player and guitarist are rocking bright sequined suit coats, tall russian fur hats, a keyboardist is dressed as a sailor and the lead singer is wearing a leotard with a flipped up collar and boxers. His face has blue painted dots all over it.

The start off with two poppy guitar driven songs and then launch into a beautiful, slow cover of Neil Young's Harvest Moon. Really awesome cover. After that they went off. Two keyboards drove a really heavy dark 30 minutes. The guitars were loud and driving and it seemed like Barnes was channeling old Iggy Pop. Despite the darkness of it all the bass kept a persistent up-beat groove going that had a lot of people dancing.

During the musical breaks we were greeted with a few costume changes until Barnes settle on a short kimono.
http://myspace-646.vo.llnwd.net/00167/64/66/167206646_m.jpg
He also jumped on a ladder while draped in a clown costume. Cool visual stuff to go along with the strange animations being projected on to the movie screen behind them.

Some highlights were definetly The Past is a Grotesque Animal, Heimsdalgate, and She's a Rejector. Things were an eclectic mix of 70s experimental punk, classic glam rock, and house music. Imagine the bastard love child from Iggy Pop, Bowie, and your local techno loving computer nerd.

The encore was an extremely fun, rocking three songs including my favorite from Islandic Twins, The Party's Crashing Us and a Bowie tribute, Moonage Daydream.

All in all, great, very fun show. Could have been a better venue. 8/10.

[Claunchy]

[ QUOTE ]

I don't see the New Pornographers comparison at all, could you give me a specific song you think sounds like them?

[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't really intend to compare them to NP so much. I just meant that a lot of the poppier tracks didn't really stand out to me, and that they sounded like any number of indiepop bands out there. NP were just an example.

If I had to say which tracks specifically fit this mold, I would say probably Suffer for Fashion and Heimdalsgate.... I like the second half of the album a lot more than the first though.