of Montreal

- MUSIC REVIEWS

For a band whose sound approaches uncontained glee, the mood created by Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? , of Montreal's 2007 masterpiece is similar to, say, standing inside of a burning building with a tape recorder. The record, detailing an intense period of depression and growth, turned overwrought on its side in an eager play on form vs. content, setting painfully diary-appropriate lyrics with wild disco keyboards in the name of intensely personal self-critique. Surviving until the end, Barnes inevitably deconstructed, falling apart against restless sonics and some killer basslines; the catharsis was palpable...