Austinist Giveaway: The Islands @ Emo's

Formed by two former members of brilliant-but-short lived indie popsters The Unicorns a little over a year ago, Canada's Islands just recently released their debut LP, Return to the Sea, with a haunting cover taken from a mid-1820s painting by German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich. Back at SXSW, our friends over at See You In the Pit previewed this seven-piece, describing their songs as "strangely beautiful, quirky pop melodies combined with sprawling instrumentation, a wicked sense of humor, combined two parts winking precociousness and freewheeling play." They're not the only ones to say this: far and wide, critics have been raving about Return to the Sea, which features special cameos by countrymates The Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, and stateside musical chameleon Beck. Hell, frontman Nick Diamonds (née Nicholas Thorburn) describes his own work as "sprawling and ambitious."

The guys are coming to Emo's this coming Monday, and we're giving away a pair of tickets plus a signed CD to a lucky reader! Fill out the form below.

Congrats, Tomas!

[MP3s At See You In the Pit]

[Islands Official Homepage]
[Islands on MySpace]
[Video -- "Bass"]

Islands with Why?
Monday, May 1st
Emo's