*Don't bother **Worth a listen ***Turn it up ****Buy it ***** Exceptional

If you want to know what a band sounds like when they reach the apex of culture relevance, pick a copy of the new album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by of Montreal.

Building a steady following of young urbanites since 2005's The Sunlandic Twins, of Montreal now occupies a place at the forefront of progressive pop music.

The new record, recently reviewed by music prophets Pitchfork Media, received a rating of 8.7 out of 10.

How did the band arrive at this success? It all started about 1997 in Montreal, unsurprisingly enough, with singer/musician Kevin Barnes' broken heart. After a failed romance, Barnes left Montreal for Athens, Ga. and formed the band.

Music historians will tell you that the Elephant Six music collective was a group of artists consisting of Elf Power, of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel, among others. E6 has roots in Denver as well as Athens, where a number of its musicians live in the Orange Twin Conservation Community. At one point E6 was a record label, before disorganization caused bands to move to other labels.

Practically speaking, E6 was a large group of friends who shared common interests and goals. For of Montreal, E6 provided an environment where musicians who enjoyed eclectic instrumentation in psych-rock, pop rock and folk-rock could exchange awesomeness.

Eventually, of Montreal had the opportunity to bring its dance-folk meth-party on a grand tour of the world's big cities. At this point, of Montreal is big currency in the fake plastic world of hipster name-dropping.

As with The Sunlandic Twins, the band's sound continues to evolve in the direction of protro-electronic glam-pop. The early days of Barnes' historical forays into the deconstruction of early psychedelic rock have been subsumed by the synthetic beat-heat of modern sex lives. Most of the new songs are dark, personal musings on the manic intensity of young people in the city: being born, dying and falling in love under the electric sky.

The live show, as of this summer at Bumbershoot, imitates a rapidly decaying late-'60s drug party, eventually becoming a hedonistic dance festival of convergent musical styles and divergent fashion sense.

Watch of Montreal and the Blow at the Showbox on Feb. 9th. I'll see you there.

— Erik Stinson

arts@thedaily.washington.edu