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Alternative Press

With this completely progressive and mature effort, it's clear that Barnes is one of indie rock's most gifted songwriters. [Feb 2007, p.115]

PopMatters

This is a cohesive, serious album. It is distressing, depressed, isolated, alienating, and probably the best Of Montreal album to date.

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BBC collective

Much of Hissing Fauna… dances in the face of its depressing subject matter.

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Q Magazine

An extraordinary record. [Mar 2007, p.115]

Tiny Mix Tapes

What makes these songs so positively delicious, in the same way that going on a bender can be a welcome alternative to crying into a pillow, is that Barnes realizes how seductive misery can be.

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Los Angeles Times

It's this mix of little quirks and big beats that makes "Hissing Fauna" so much fun. But it's the way Barnes pushes himself, both to tell the truth and to try new things, that lends these songs a heavier, more compelling edge than most contemporary baroque-pop.

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Lost At Sea

If Of Montreal were previously a bit on the superficial side with their beatific pop, Hissing Fauna adds a welcome additional ingredient: a sense of gravity.

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Pitchfork

An astonishingly good late-period record from Of Montreal that's as uncomfortably savage in its depiction of breakup psychology as it is relentlessly catchy.

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Stylus Magazine

Hissing Fauna is severely front-loaded, not necessarily because the closing songs are duds, but more because the album’s first half is nearly flawless.

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Entertainment Weekly

The band's playful musicality is undeniable. [26 Jan 2007, p.71]

cokemachineglow

Hissing Fauna might be Barnes’ finest work yet, an opus built entirely of sugar.

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Filter

If last year's sublime Sunlandic Twins was Kevin Barnes' ode to "Oslo in the Summertime," Hissing Fauna recalls his Winter of Discontent.

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Urb

A wonderfully dance-ridden companion ot the intelli-disco carved out on 2005's The Sunlandic Twins. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.81]

Delusions of Adequacy

The album sounds amazing.

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Playlouder

The effect of the new bleak mood lurking beneath the glimmering pop is to pare away the occasional over-cutesiness that has marred Of Montreal's work in the past and enhance the freaky psychedelic sublime of Barne's best moments.

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No Ripcord

The lack of engaging realism has always been one of the major problems for Of Montreal and the new material goes a long way towards solving it.

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All Music Guide

It's a challenging yet ultimately rewarding album -- and one that definitely requires some thoughtful attention on the part of the listener.

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Paste Magazine

Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is probably the most fun one can reasonably have while wrestling with somebody else’s demons.

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Drowned In Sound

If there is one thing in this world that can elevate even the weakest of lyrics from the trough of personal diary hell, it’s a catchy melody. Thankfully this record overflows with them.

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Prefix Magazine

Barnes's most personal and emotional album to date.

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Magnet

The emotional gravitas only lends heft to the group's exhilarating, ever-present sugar high. [#74, p.104]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

It's all darkly beautiful, because Barnes continues to emote more through the music than through his words.

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The Phoenix

For the most part an exercise in Prince-like electro-funk, full of squelchy keyboard fuzz and chicken-scratch guitar noise and absurdly complicated falsetto harmonies.

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Slant Magazine

An album of relatively accessible pop music that pulses with the pain of a life in pieces.

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Hartford Courant

It's by far his most personal album, but "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?" keeps the self-absorption to a minimum, in favor of vivid descriptions and up-tempo music that's catchy and engaging regardless of whether you're invested in the difficult back story.

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Spin

Hissing Fauna might be an album of ego trips, but at least Barnes is on the good stuff. [Feb 2007, p.85]

Village Voice

Fauna's first half is cosmic pop turmoil of the highest degree, as only a master songwriter could create.

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Mojo

His gifts remain undiminished. [Mar 2007, p.99]

The New York Times

Manic pop and depressive revelations have rarely been so closely bonded. [22 Jan 2007]

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Dusted Magazine

Although non-fans will likely continue to dismiss the band as over-the-top pop marauders, Hissing Fauna proves that there’s plenty of depth to their delirium.

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New Musical Express

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.

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Uncut

At best, Hissing Fauna... posits its creator as the missing link between Hot Chip and Morrissey. [Mar 2007, p.88]

The Guardian

The second half is dominated by a seedy funk that feels at once self-indulgent and unappetising, despite the odd dazzling moment.

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Under The Radar

Everything's going just swell on Hissing Fauna--from moody to hyper hip shaking to stand-still hipster pose--until Barnes stops it all with the twelve minute "The Past is a Grotesque Animal." [#16, p.93]

Rolling Stone

An intermittently pleasurable record from a talented songwriter with an overstuffed brain. [8 Feb 2007, p.70]

NOW Magazine

Most of what Barnes throws together here doesn't get beyond annoying pastiche, and he still lacks the chops as a wordsmith to magically transform mediocre jams into memorable songs.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 127 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David C. gave it a10:
This is one of the greatest albums of this decade. The comedic and cynical lyrics counter the poppy melodies of the album in almost an ironic way. "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" lies perfectly in the middle of the album, where the music takes a sharp turn for the serious and angry. Of Montreal finds a way to make the most unlikely combination of lyrics and music to create one amazing feeling of loss and anger. It is a truly unique and wonderful album from a truly unique and wonderful band.

Tim L gave it a10:
I really don't see how anyone can see this album as anything other than perfect. The lyrics are so meaningful and it's clear that this album means a lot to Barnes. He take you for a ride through marital and mental breakdown through dark pop and funk music. The first half is definitely the more accessible of the two halves of the album, but the second half is certainly my favourite. With brilliant tracks like 'She's a rejecter' and of course 'Past is a grotesque animal' this is without a doubt the best album of 2007 and, most likely, the best of the decade.

Nelly gave it a10:
Outrageous... one of the best I've heard in a long time... we were born... unbelievable tune.

Tom P. gave it an8:
Okay, the first half of this album is excellent, near perfect for it's genre, but the fact is, if you have ever seen this Of Montreal or actually listened to the lyrics, Barnes is just too damn creepy/fruity and self indulgent for me to seriously get into this band. Sorry, eye-glitter and fishnets are where I get off...Though The Past Is a Grotesque Animal is still one of my favorite songs of 2007.

Drew gave it a10:
I didn't really care for it on first listen, afraid I hated his voice. A few days pass and I'm singing "let's do it together! let's go together!" etc. So I pop it back in and each track stood out and stuck on that second listen. Showmanship I haven't seen since Bowie and musical creativity mixed with great lyrics is hard to beat. I think a great album has to have great song after great song and have a fitting album closer, We Were Born Mutants is so perfect. I probably hear this album at least once a week and I've yet to get tired of a song on it. The weakest Labyrinthian Pomp is hardly weak enough to hold this set of songs down. Because songs like Sentence.. and Rejector give you at least a three or four song buffer to mess up the album, which they don't even bother touching. I have listened to a lot of albums with skippers in them and it's just so refreshing to lay down, let the album go and take part in near perfection to my ears. In short, I absolutely love so many things about this album that it is hard not to keep going back to it.

KarlRavage gave it a9:
Way to plug your favorite band in a negative way. Everything, Now! is the worst band ever! The Beatles revival is over. That is unless you're...freakin stoned!!? Wait...

Jon H. gave it a10:
My album of the year. Their best and deepest work to date. As much as I love their older albums, they seem a bit superficial compared to this one. Every song brings something great to the table. Go see them live.

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Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

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