''Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?'' is the eighth album by American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

of Montreal of Montreal is an American indie pop band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontperson Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance between Barnes and a woman "of Montreal". The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collec ...

, released on January 7, 2007. The album was written, performed, and recorded by

Kevin Barnes Kevin Lawrence Barnes (born May 30, 1974) is an American musician who is the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the indie rock group of Montreal, part of the Elephant 6 Collective. Barnes started the band and, although providing ...

, with assistance from friends and family: prominent

Elephant Six The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include The Apples in Stereo, Beulah (band), Beulah, Circulatory System (band), Circulatory System, Elf ...

members Bryan Poole, Jamey Huggins and Heather McIntosh, as well as Barnes' wife Nina Grottland, credited as Nina Twin, and daughter Alabee Barnes, credited as Alabee Blonde. Credits also feature Georgie Fruit, a

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

of Barnes.

Background

Barnes has described the album as a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, detailing their transformation from Kevin Barnes into Georgie Fruit. Georgie Fruit exists as Kevin Barnes' alter ego, which they will assume for the final half of the album, as well as the two subsequent LPs, ''

Skeletal Lamping ''Skeletal Lamping'' is the ninth studio album by Athens, Georgia-based band of Montreal. Style As with most of Montreal albums, Kevin Barnes performed almost all the instrumental and vocal tracks himself. Distribution ''Skeletal Lamping'' wa ...

'' and ''

False Priest ''False Priest'' is the tenth full-length studio album by indie-pop group of Montreal, released on September 14, 2010 by Polyvinyl Records on CD, digital, and 180-gram vinyl in both red and black. In addition, Joyful Noise Recordings released a ...

''. According to "Labyrinthian Pomp", Georgie Fruit is a "dark mutation for my demented past time". The transformation takes place during "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal", the 12-minute-long "turning point" of the album. In addition, the album namechecks many things commonly associated with glam rock, such as

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

; "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" alludes to

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

's play ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

'' and specifically mentions

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 8 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...

's novella ''

Story of the Eye ''Story of the Eye'' ( is a 1928 novella written by Georges Bataille as Lord Auch (literally, Lord "to the shithouse" — "auch" being short for "aux chiottes", slang for telling somebody off by sending him to the toilet), that details the increa ...

''. Barnes credits their being prescribed

antidepressants Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathisia, sexu ...

with the making of the album. "The real issue was a chemical thing, so when I finally got on medication, that balanced it out. So that helped me have a better perspective on things and helped my relationship with my wife and helped me through he album/nowiki>."Rob Mitchum
Please Mr. Pharmacist: The New Breed of Drug Song

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

, March 12, 2007. "

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" is the first single released by Polyvinyl Records from Of Montreal's 2007 album '' Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?''. Like the rest of the album, the song was written, performed and recorded by Kevin Bar ...

", the album's first single, chronicles their struggle with chemical imbalance and mood disorders.

Track listing

All songs written by

Charts

Album

References

External links

Pitchfork Media article
{{Authority control 2007 albums Of Montreal albums Polyvinyl Record Co. albums 2000s concept albums Elephant 6 albums