In 2006, the iTunes Music Store offered “Back to School” weekly specials as a treat to its loyal customers. These free playlists were filled with multitudes of up-and-coming artists – one week, one genre. Nestled among other relatively unknown artists in the “Indie Playlist” was the Montreal band Islands with its song “Rough Gem.”
Shortly thereafter, the song helped shoot Islands to the top of the indie rock world. Since the success of its first album, Return to the Sea, the past two years have held many changes to the Canadian band’s roster. Founding member Nick Thorburn added a new a drummer, Aaron Harris, a violinist and percussionist, Kate Perkins, a new label, ANTI-, and a new album, Arm’s Way.
While the landscape for Islands has changed, its core sound remains intact. If there’s any difference, the Islands sound is darker, broodier and more focused on the rock aspect on the new album. You can hear Islands slowly drifting away from its indie roots.
Lead single “The Arm” has a large emphasis on guitar, at times sounding more like The Strokes than Wolf Parade or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Thorburn adds in that familiar piano from “Rough Gem” in the title track and a dramatic flair with Perkins’ violins to make “The Arm” the most light-hearted track of the album (which doesn’t say much, because it’s pretty dark itself).
Thorburn provides Islands’ signature sound, but you can tell how much the album is influenced by a similarly evolving indie rock community. The sound exudes more professional essence; hearing the new Islands album is like hearing the natural evolution of a band, drawing many similarities to Coldplay in the same regard.
The only disappointment is the lack of a blockbuster single, much like what “Rough Gem” did for Return to the Sea. The songs are solid but too dark to get heavy radio play. The dark side of Islands is highly potent and exceptionally clear in this album, especially on songs such as “Life in Jail,” “Evil Creeping In” and “Creeper,” where strong and disturbing lyrics replace the lighter lyrics of the previous album.
Thorburn’s all-minor power chords and fast and furious melodies are a leap of faith for the band, abandoning their niceties for the sake of deeper emotion. The band has a huge chip on its shoulder, evident in the catchy yet disquieting song “J’aime vous voire quitter,” a not-so-subtle stab at the departed drummer Jamie Thompson.
For the meantime, it seems Islands has taken a temporary trip into the shade, but its choice in lyrics has not hampered its musical aptitude. Islands is undergoing many evolutions, especially sonically.
Arm’s Way, about 20 minutes longer than Return to the Sea, definitely experiences fewer lows than its predecessor, but also fewer highs. Now that iTunes has taken the training wheels off Islands, the band moves full-speed ahead with an incredibly solid and enjoyable album, not to be missed by indie and rock fans alike.
dsmith5@umd.edu
Rating: 3 1?2 out of 5 Stars.
