Islands' new album, aside from having unnecessarily strange cover art, is pretty, pretty darn good. It's called Arm's Way, and it is a much more focused effort than Return To The Sea. This album sounds more like a real band that has begun to get comfortable with themselves. The songs are far more consistent and less scattered than Nick Thorburn's work in the past. That being said, it retains the vast influences that keep the music interesting, just as they did with Return To The Sea. There are many moments in the record that breach out from standard musical territory, with some stellar arrangements of the songs. Right away, from the first 20 seconds of the album, I was roped in. The musical introduction to "The Arm" is exquisite, and they keep bringing musical elements just as exciting throughout the entire length of the album. Which, I should mention, clocks in at eight minutes over an hour. This is a long album, but I never felt bored with the music -- they switch things up throughout the whole album, and they keep it interesting.Arm's Way will be released May 20th, 2008 via ANTI- Records.
Islands - The Arm (from Arm's Way)
Islands - Kid's Don't Know Shit (from Arm's Way)
that album art's some gross shit man.