Austinist Show Review: Islands @ Emo's
For those of us who are normally turning out the lights and falling asleep to the peaceful sounds of ocean waves and gulls around midnight, last night's Islands show at Emo's (with Why? and Cadence Weapon) was a nice alarm clock. Performing for a good-sized crowd (Monday night and the place was loaded), Islands put on a head-bobbing, toe-tapping and thoroughly breathless show, despite some minor sound glitches and hot, hot heat.
Canada's Islands rose from the ashes of The Unicorns, whose album Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? is widely regarded as one of the best of 2003, and features a rotating cast of musicians revolving around Nick Thornburn and Jaime Thompson. Listening to their album, Return to the Sea, it's clear that there is a wide array of instruments and influences (think Pet Sounds meets The Kinks), but when they take the stage it really becomes clear just how much they're taking on. The guy behind me utters, "Wow, that's a lot of Islands," and everyone chuckles. Seven people on stage and twice as many instruments means you're about to see an amazing show or a terrible one, and luckily for us, Islands aren't prone to disappoint.
The show starts with "Humans", and Thornburn (aka Nick Diamonds) immediately strutting to the edge of the stage to peer over the crowd, oozing "I'm not just their leader, I'm also one of them," with a Jagger-esque snarl and hair toss. As the young-ish crowd goes nuts, Thornburn retreats to mid-stage where he uses an amp to hoist himself in the air, assisted by his mic cord, and onto a keyboardist's shoulders for the song's closing.
They had our attention, and kept up the pace with "Volcanoes" and an unreleased song called "I Feel Evil (Creeping In)", a song dying to become the next great summer anthem. Featuring a pounding chorus accompanied by violins and hushed verses, "I Feel Evil" was one of the highlights of the show. In true rock-n-roll fashion, Islands segue directly from the lesser-known "Evil" and into "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone", a benchmark of Return to the Sea, that features Cadence Weapon (and others) taking turns on stage with the mic, rapping. "Where There's a Will" ends up being the wishbone of the performance, holding together the halves of the pre-encore set with its unflinching combination of slow jam bass and drums, frenzied climaxes and hip-hop influences. It served as a prime example of how Islands have taken The Unicorns' unique sound and textured it into something truly ground-breaking without a trace of trying-too-hard. It shouldn't go without saying that the ability to combine an all-white uniform for the band, a recorder, a rap interlude and a banjo without a strong dose of second-hand embarrassment for the audience is quite a feat, and Islands pull it off without a hitch.
The second half of the set featured "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby", "Tsuxiit" and "Jogging Gorgeous Summer" among other tracks from Return to the Sea, until Nick Diamonds announced the "last song", "Abominable Snow". The crowd stayed put despite the late hour for the encore, which included an extended version of "Swans" (plus mini-jam session) and "Rough Gem", another highlight from the album that prompted full audience participation with claps and the slickest of indie-kid dance moves.
The entire set was high energy and rock-n-roll. While Return to the Sea showcases Islands' knack for songwriting and arrangement, the live act neutralizes the band's reputation as being a "quirky" group by highlighting the energy and semi-exotic nature of the compositions. We would've loved to hear more of the accompanying instruments, but we're blaming sound troubles and our position in the crowd for that. And though Islands won't be back here for a while, you can check their tour dates if you happen to be up for travel and a great live show.
Islands Forever, official band site
Islands: Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone", live via Google video
Islands: Rough Gem, official video via YouTube
*Image (c) Paige Maguire*
