Islands = Mania. That's a good way to start, as facepainted lead singer Nick Thorburn waxes eloquent or arrogant on stage, and the Montreal six-piece come together in a clattering display of Graceland-influenced indie, not to mention the occasional rap, and pretty much anything else you can throw in there. Their latest record, Arm's Way, which some love, and some don't so much love, is a collection of twenty-first century rock songs bordering on the brooding, though the light-hearted catastrophizing that marked their debut album still pops up in places; it will be more than interesting to see these elaborate arrangements manifested on stage. ...

At first, it'd be easy to mistake Fleet Foxes for old-school My Morning Jacket, or even present-day commercial heroes Band of Horses. After all, they've got that Americana thing going, it seems at times that they're drowning in reverb, you'd assume everyone's got long hair, et cetera. But if their excellent debut EP wasn't enough to make it clear that this Washington quintet is a much different beast—and a gorgeous one at that—their first full-length should do the trick....