The Michigan Daily discovered in February of 2007 that several articles written by arts writer Devika Daga did not meet the newspaper's standard of ethical journalism. Parts of these stories had been plagiarized from other sources. The article below was taken from harmoniummusic.com, and the Daily no longer stands by its content.

If 2005's The Sunlandic Twins was Of Montreal's Kid A, then 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is their Amnesiac - more of the same, but deeper, darker and slightly weirder. And like its Radiohead counterpart, this successor slightly pales in comparison.

The strength of Of Montreal's frontman, Kevin Barnes, has always been his melodic prowess, and nowhere is this more evident than on The Sunlandic Twins. In spite of its cold, calculated synth trappings, Twins was a triumphant joy. Hissing Fauna shares much of the same energy, but without as much emphasis on those powerful hooks.

Take Fauna's lead track, "Suffer for Fashion," as a case in point: After only a gentle pluck of strings and a child's voice, the song bursts with a crescendo of churning bass and Barnes' laser-like voice. "Fashion" seizes your attention just as readily as Twins opener "Requiem For O.M.M.2," but somehow it doesn't land quite as effectively - something accessible is missing.

The album does successfully wade into more personal waters, with Barnes singing of desperation and uncertainty with an uncharacteristic urgency. His vocals soar above a bed of near-cacophonous instrumental experimentation, with the music urging him into a personal catharsis.

For a band that once relied on tales of fantastic settings and characters, this newfound lyrical depth is a major achievement. Of Montreal takes an introspective approach, marking Barnes's first attempt at an autobiographical album. Though the result is often stranger than their fictional worlds, the band's further explorations into electronics have begun to suit their off-kilter sound.

In some of Hissing Fauna's darker, more contemplative moments ("Cato as a Pun"), the synths lend a brooding feel, while at other times ("Faberge Falls for Shuggie"), Barnes channels Prince with a swagger and strut.

The album's undisputed centerpiece, "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," is the indie-pop answer to "White Light/White Heat," and a testament to just how far the band has come from their days as a factory of Beatlesque whimsy. The 12-minute opus is not your typical multi-movement epic, as it sits on the same four chords for the song's duration and relies more on tension and build-up than on melodic variation. Seething with acerbic lines - "I guess we weren't made for this world / but I wouldn't really want to meet someone who was" and "sometimes I wonder if you're mythologizing me like I do you" - "Grotesque Animal" is something of a hallmark for Hissing Fauna, allowing the band to extend its bounds thematically and structurally instead of just melodically.

Hissing Fauna shows the growth of a dynamically evolving band, and its success is only diminished in comparison to the achievements of the album that preceded it.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Of Montreal
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Polyviny