Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

As if trying to out-emo emo, it’s said Kevin Barnes formed indie-pop dandies Of Montreal after a failed love affair with a girl from Canada. But over the last decade, this Athens, Georgia collective have blossomed from winsome indie-pop virgins to frocked-up future pop stars, beaming their febrile college rock through a kaleidoscope of sleazy funk, electronica jitters, and ‘Fear Of Music’-style Talking Heads ethno-beat. To which 99.9 per cent of the world declares: “What?!” and returns to their Snow Patrol records. But you know better, because you hear Barnes crooning, “To me you’re just some faggy girl/But I need a lover with soul power” on ‘Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider’, and hear pop’s new prince donning
his velvet cape.

Louis Pattison

7 out of 10