ISLANDS

Interestingly, this is the album that earned Islands their place here in Progarchives. To me, it is their debut album that is their proggiest, although I understand why this one got them included here. There is a bit of maturity here, and the addition of violins, that gives the music here a more distinctly symphonic texture here as opposed to their very indie-sounding debut.

The songs here are tighter and more consistent than they were on the debut, which is both a blessing and a curse. This album is imminently listenable, and from the first listen I've had these songs stuck in my head. I've listened to this album three times in the past day simply because the music will not leave my head. However, this sheen makes the album a bit less adventurous than their debut, which switched from extended psychedelic to odd instrumental to a piece with rap in the middle to folk, yet all staying within a recognisable sound. Here the band explores less different avenues of their sound, and so when you reach I Feel Evil Creeping In, it doesn't feel like you've gone that far from Life In Jail.

The album does end on a superb piece of music, Vertigo, the "epic" on this album, which while still very much in the mould of this album does offer more time for the instruments to build up texture and atmosphere, and does take the sound further than any other track.

Overall an enjoyable, light listen that entertains but does not hit very deep.

There are a lot of really interesting tracks on this album. My favorites would be Swans (Life After Death), Rough Gem, and Tsuxiit - which, if you check the track listing, you will see is fairly front loaded. Each of these tracks has something unique about it. Swans is the most psychadelic sounding, with acoustic guitars, odd keyboards, and the strangely relaxing vocals (with lines like "I woke up thirsty the day I died") all create a song that is a small trip in and of itself. Rough Gem is just plain catchy, and Tsuxiit is a really odd sound collage composed mostly of synthetic sounds.

The mix of different sounds doesn't end there; the rap-like vocals of Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone work strangely well, and the doomsday-esque intro to Volcanoes gives the song a fair amount of character.

Where the album suffers is from the moments where the band didn't seem to find the creative groove that makes the previously mentioned tracks so enjoyable. The rest of the album sits somewhere between decent to boring indie pop (to my ears), and really brings down the overall score of the album.

Regardless, this album is worth a listen for the tracks that are more creative, especially if you are also a fan of the indie/pop scene, as this album (to my ears) represents a pretty good crossover between that scene and the prog scene.

The best, and proggiest, songs are Abominable Snow a fine homage to Sasquatch, and Vertigo (If It's a Crime), which ends the album on a proper note. But too much of this album just doesn't draw me in, leaving me that that old Duran Duran feeling.

2.5 stars, rounded up.