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No, they're not really from Canada. of Montreal, like
"new wave" and the many American art-rock bands that
burgeoned between the yesterdays of trickle-down economics and
Bill and Monica, began in the indie-rock Mecca of Athens, Georgia.
Their continuing involvement with the Athens "Elephant Six"
co-op in the late 90s (which nurtured the likes of Apples In
Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel) likewise formed within
of Montreal a communally-structured approach to music-making.
At one time they even lived in a house together. This considered,
it's only logical that their earliest work buzzed with the "love-in"
vibe of late 60's psychedelia. However, by the 2004 release of
Satanic Panic In The Attic their collaborative energy was
a weakening hum. Frontman Kevin Barnes wanted to do the
composing and recording alone, and the rest of the band members
had few complaints. So with his new creative freedom, Barnes shifted
their musical direction into a more 80s synth-colored landscape.
This continued when they joined Polyvinyl Records in 2005, releasing
The Sunlandic Twins, a record performed almost entirely
by Barnes alone. Now in 2007, with the rewards of critical acclaim
and an ever-growing audience, Barnes has not yet invited his friends
back to the studio. But considering the wonder of the new world
he's created on Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?,
Barnes privacy seems to have just as many perks for him as it
does the listeners.
Not that he denied all helping hands. The CDs kaleidoscope gift-wrapping
was done by his brother, David Barnes. Turn over the extra
paper "mood circle" inside and you'll learn that plenty
of others contributed to the project. Still, every instrument,
weird loop, and Prince throwback is signed by Barnes only.
The first track, titled "Suffer for Fashion," opens
with a baby's cry. These young tears cleverly mirror the circumstances
that birthed the album into existence. In 2004 their lack of health
care forced Barnes and his pregnant wife Nina to leave
Athens and go to her hometown of Oslin, Norway. The free health
insurance Norway reserves for artists afforded the couple the
birth of their daughter Alabee. Though the stay was temporary,
much of Hissing Fauna was recorded here. These circumstances
are enough to shake that "stay-at- home" naiveté
common to not a few scarf-wearing scene-kids. And based on the
lyrics alone, this is likely what Barnes' wants the song to accomplish.
There's sharp parallel between the crying baby and the song's
characters. As Mario Cart synths drive the song forward,
Barnes sing "we just want to emote till we're dead/ I know
we suffer for fashion or whatever/We don't want these days to
ever end/we just want to emasculate them forever." Knowing
a bit about of Montreal's history, it's hard to miss the band's
personal stake in these lyrics. But all autobiography aside, anyone
who's choked on the bohemian smoke and melodrama lingering in
coffeehouse air shares Barnes' annoyance. As "Suffer"
concludes, listeners get a good idea where the album is heading,
and why. With sarcasm, it sings: "We've got to keep our little
click clicking at 130 b.p.m. it's not too slow/if we've got to
burn out let's do it together/let's all melt down together."
Similar angst fuzzes throughout the radio-frequencies and catchy
guitar riffs of the wry "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider."
As the first line recalls, "saw her GO kissing girls/what
a shock I said, you must be an artist/she muttered her reply,
I was judging her friend as the dj played a dead jam." Without
pulling punches, Barnes points to a strobe-lit world where people
treat kisses like clothing styles. Where blue disco orbs color
the walls but everyone's too pretentious to dance. And yes, the
confrontational chorus does border on cruelty. But given the context
and odd compassion of its tone, it just might be appropriate.
He sings, "Eva, I'm sorry but you will never have me/to me
you're just some faggy girl and I need a lover with soul power/and
you ain't got no soul power." It's not the girl's sexual-preference
that's scrutinized. Rather, choosing difference for the mere trend
of it is the sin under judgment.
Barnes' "scenester" annoyance isn't the only emotion
this album visits. Other tracks, like "Heimdalsgate Like
A Promethean Curse," illustrate the depressive ups-and-downs
of a stressed new father. As Barnes' sings, "I'm in a crisis
I need help/come on mood shift-shift back to good again/Come on
be a friend." This line, sung with the youthful shake of
Connor Oberst, shows just how alone Barnes felt while living
in Norway and trying to adjust to its culture shock. Moods are
always shifting, but it's an uphill battle when living in a place
where you have few other companions. The song takes an even more
personal turn by referring directly to his marriage. As a later
melody sings, "Nina twin is trying to help and I really hope
she gets me straights/cause my own inner cosmology has become
too dense to navigate." Considering the album's context,
the irony of this line says a great deal. Perhaps it's highlighting
the fact that the mother has better recovered from the pangs of
birth than the father. Or perhaps it's an allusion to the dangerous
limits of human exploration, only this time the unwelcoming frontiers
are the internal galaxies (for a visual articulation of this same
idea, see Darren Aronofsky's underrated film The Fountain).
Whether this was Barnes' intent or not, he offers a poignant proverb.
The album's best song is the twelve-minute downer "The Past
Is A Grotesque Animal." Not since Nirvana's "All
Apologies" has a songwriter matched Kurt Cobain's
ability to turn the disappointment and dislocation of celebrity
life into such vivid, self-destructive poetry. But the tattered
images that tumble through "Grotesque Animals" no-nonsense
melodies come pretty damn close. Barnes wrote this song while
on national tour, during which he and his wife legally separated.
Nina and Alabee returned to Norway. He confesses he "went
through this hedonistic period of heavy drinking" in attempts
to forget how much he missed his wife and newborn daughter. He
admitted there's "no fulfillment in that lifestyle,"
and this song makes his comment utterly believable. With a mash-up
of serene guitars and angry, forward marching electro-drums competing
in the background, "Animal" begins: "The Past is
a grotesque animal/and in its eye you see how completely wrong
you can be." He stands numb before a world where nature constantly
defeats itself, thinking, "The sun is out/it melts the snow
that fell yesterday/makes you wonder why it bothered." In
response to history's scrutinizing eye and nature's self-defeating
cruelty, the narrator spends the rest of the song consciously
attempting to "author his own disaster." He escapes
into past haunts. Squires "the first cute girl" he meets
to a Swedish festival where they discuss French author George
Bataille. This brief courtship, and perhaps the culture-shift
the festival temporarily creates, reminds the narrator of his
family overseas and, shamefully, how much he needs them. Bemoaning
questions ensue. He asks, "how can I explain I need you here
and not here too?" Loneliness soon turns to anger. Sirens
bellow in the background. He and his new friend march further
into their fight against the judgment of history. But this fight
soon becomes less a battle march and more outright self-destruction.
As he yells, "let's just have some fun/let's tear this shit
apart/let's tear the fucking house apart/let's tear our fucking
bodies apart/but let's just have some fun." Allow me to briefly
interject my own opinion. Midway through, the song becomes so
depressing and internal that one wonders whether Barnes' has stared
inward for too long. It's the only point in the album that I'm
tempted to give a negative critique (and oddly enough, it occurs
in one of best song I've heard in five years.) But at one point
he makes a comment so pitiful and absurd that it transcends all
"emo" categories. He sings, "somehow you've red
rovered the Gestapo circling my heart/and nothing can defeat you/no
death, no ugly world." To be honest, I'm not sure what to
think of this line. Maybe he's highlighting how violent too much
"naval gazing" can be. Or perhaps the struggle of being
separated from his family was so horrific that Holocaust images
seemed most fitting. I'd like to know his exact intent. But frankly,
using symbols representative of the systematic annihilation of
an entire race of people to illustrate an emotional struggle seems
troublesome, to say the least. And one could rightfully question
whether Barnes has, in this line, fallen victim to the very "indie-rock"
melodrama so much of the album is reacting against. But as the
song progresses, I have a hunch that he may have been trying to
make that point... that he too is capable of suffering for fashion,
crying to be seen. Who knows. Regardless, such questionable lyrics
do not overshadow the songs poignancy. Furthermore, a sudden surprise
of hope at the conclusion suggests a reunion between him and his
family (which, thankfully, did happen). Here he says, "I'm
so touched by your goodness/you make me feel so criminal/How do
you keep it together?/ I'm unraveled/but you know, no matter where
we are we're always touching by underground wires." In a
song so dark it feels like it might burst into an Apocalypse,
this little flicker of light has the relief of a warm hug.
There are other great songs that could be further expounded upon
with great interest. But I'd just assume leave the rest for the
listeners to think about and discuss. Seriously, this album is
tremendous. Though heavy with sadness and demanding of patient
listeners, contemplating the richness therein is, to say the least,
rewarding. There are few albums where listeners become learners.
of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? is
one of these rare exceptions, and one of the best albums I've
heard in years. Seriously.
Hissing Fauna isn't just an angry finger waving in the
face of indie-rock or even the poetry of a man's emotional descent.
Much more, it reflects the need to get away from familiar surroundings
once in a while. And in doing so, Barnes is able to voice frustrations
that the majority of his listeners have also felt. But aside from
the album's social critiques, let's not forget the reason why
Nina and Kenneth Barnes chose to get away in the first place.
They did so for the sake of their baby's health. Now that's the
kind of selfless act that might inspire someone to step out of
their Livejournal trappings.
When the time is right, I hope of Montreal will try venturing
back to their communal origins. But in the meantime, Hissing
Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? has plenty to teach those willing
to listen.
-Justin Stover
Track Listing:
1. Suffer For Fashion
2. Sink The Seine
3. Cato As A Pun
4. Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
5. Gronlandic Edit
6. Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger, A
7. Past Is A Grotesque Animal, The
8. Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider
9. Faberge Falls For Shuggie
10. Labyrinthian Pomp
11. She's A Rejecter
12. We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling
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