What a lot of people don’t realize about Of Montreal is that the group started out as a pseudo-solo project of Kevin Barnes. For the first couple of albums, Barnes was clearly the key songwriter, and his band’s lineup was constantly changing. Although the members rotated, Barnes kept his sound pretty steady for the first seven or eight years of his musical career: Of Montreal’s tunes were the bedroom recording versions of the Beach Boys gone twee.
And then Satanic Panic In the Attic rolled around in 2004 and [sort of] surprised everyone. The record was solid and had much more of a focus on production than the previous efforts. And there were more traces of … dance on the thing! That made everyone excited for a while.
2005’s Sunlandic Twins was a let down. Barnes and his band mates took the dance thing too far and made the songs too glossy for their own good. They were boring in the most astounding and flashy way conceivable.
Next year’s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer looks like it too will be disappointing. Barnes’ voice has gotten loopier and goofier, psych guitar melodies are increasingly being replaced by predictable pop riffs, and potentially interesting bridges and choruses are washed away in a sea of distortion and echo. Too much, I say.
But judge for yourself … “She’s A Rejector” is the best song from the forthcoming release. Revel in it’s mediocrity.

Of Montreal - She’s A Rejector