Sometimes, even the most inspired artists need to get out a little.
Of Montreal's sole core member is Kevin Barnes, a Georgia musician who has collaborated with others under the name in the past, but recorded almost all of "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?" holed up by himself. Unfortunately, this is painfully obvious to the listener.
The first immediately striking thing about "Destroyer" is its physical presence. The album comes in a stunningly ornate package, with neon-cardboard petals folding out to reveal a flower-shaped card resting atop the CD.
The second is the similarly excessive song naming that puts even Fall Out Boy to shame. Titles like "We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling" and "A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger" often have little to do with the songs themselves.
The music is weird, too. Of Montreal's sound has evolved over its past few releases to become progressively more electronic, but there's a lo-fi sheen over the whole thing - like on Beck's "Odelay!" - that makes even the most digital sounds seem dirty and organic.
This can be both good and bad. The first few tracks are rough: "Suffer For Fashion" and "Sink The Seine" are meandering, high pitched and boring.
"A Sentence Of Sorts" strikes the best balance, sparkling with futuristic samples while still evoking memories of '60s pop.
The lyrics, which allegedly reference Barnes' personal struggles with failed relationships and depression, sometimes sharply contrast the positively perky music.
"Gronlandic Edit," a toe-tapping, disco-rock jam with a killer bass line, explains how the singer only leaves his home to buy groceries.
"Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse" finds him repeatedly shouting, "Come on, chemicals!" in search of a fix.
Barnes is also a weak vocalist. Sometimes the studio magic helps, like in "Gronlandic Edit's" multi-tracked harmonies. But no amount of computer wizardry can mask the awkward silliness of "Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider," in which Barnes proclaims himself overcome by "soul power" and poorly simulates the vocal style of a Motown girl group.
On "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal," Barnes sings, "It's so embarrassing to need someone like I do you. How can I explain?" then spends nearly 12 minutes doing so. It's overlong, self-indulgent and, yes, grotesque.
It's not that Of Montreal can't be accessible. The song "Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games" was universally catchy enough to become the melody behind a recent Outback Steakhouse campaign (the song's lyrics were changed to reflect steak).
But new listeners will probably be put off by the lyrical, navel-gazing and purposely-weird production, and should stick with Of Montreal's older work, like 2005's goofy gem "The Sunlandic Twins."
Reach the reporter at: samuel.gavin@asu.edu.
