Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Release date: Jan. 23, 2007 Polyvinyl Records www.ofmontreal.net

Rating:

After releasing more than a dozen albums – LPs, EPs and singles, too – in a decade, it seems like a band would run out of ideas.

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Of Montreal doesn’t show any signs of slowing down with its thirteenth full-length album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer. The album is as strange and original as the band’s debut album, and that’s probably because Of Montreal has changed for almost every album the band recorded.

But, honestly, making 13 albums is too much. It’s hard to imagine Of Montreal having a strong following for as many albums as the band has produced. Eventually, fans would either get sick of the band or just decide to start downloading the music. Then, when they got to this one, they might be surprised.

Hissing Fauna’s sound quality is stronger than previous albums, and the energy matches that of The Faint. The album never slows down too much but remains a constant rhythm of hyperactive, almost bubblegum pop beats, swirly synth and annoying vocals. The lyrics are often nonsensical, and the music follows with the same silliness, but that’s what makes Of Montreal fun to listen to, but only at certain times: Too much Of Montreal is a bad thing.

The opening tracks, “Suffer For Fashion” and the closing track, “We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling,” are easily the best songs on the album, featuring the least amount of high-pitched backing vocals and deeper bass beats. This is when Of Montreal sounds the best, and it’s great music to dance to, though clubbers might think the music is a little too weird.

By the second and third songs, “Sink The Seine” and “Cato As A Pun,” Of Montreal’s fire is heating up but burning constant. But the transition isn’t immediate and unexpected. Of Montreal uses music to bring dynamics into the album, moving from faster to slower and back with a strong middle ground.

“Gronlandic Edit” is one of the simpler songs on the album, with synth fading in and a jumping but steady bass riff that’s not too overwhelming. The vocals harmonize and actually sound kind of nice.

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer is definitely one of Of Montreal’s best albums, but that’s only if the world hasn’t already had enough.

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