Islands

Arm's Way finds Islands setting sail distinctly away from the indie-yelping that characterized their debut, Return to the Sea. The Montreal band spends most of their sophomore effort shifting gears between various styles, opening up with a string of songs featuring spaghetti western guitars and ominous lyrics.

In the middle of the album, though, Islands turn to blissful ‘80s pop for inspiration, and in channeling The Cure and The Cars, they really hit their stride. "Kids Don't Know Shit" and "Life in Jail" are two of the album's best, and the latter features a classic Nick T. lyrical non-sequitur: "If you want to be a shark / you better learn to stay awake." Though Arm's Way is a resounding success when it's joyful, the album hits a high note with a darker song (in name and melody). "I Feel Evil Creeping In" is a slow, haunting expression of diary-only darkness, including the confession, "My blood is dirty / and I like it."

Islands sound like a band who are willing to try everything to find their sound, and they fit a lot of experimentation into Arm's Way. The album starts slowly, but there are some true gems packed towards the album's conclusion that prove to be well worth the patience.



—Nathan Atnikov
05.14.08

Islands' Arm's Way isn't a complete disaster, but it flirts with it before ending up as merely a seriously flawed and unenjoyable album. Their debut was a ramshackle mess of kitchen-sink experimentation that worked a treat thanks to the band's endearingly weird arrangements and undeniably catchy songs. Much like an album by front man Nick Thorburn's previous band, the Unicorns, there was humor and devil may care attitude coursing through the grooves. Arm's Way makes the mistake of taking things more seriously, bathing songs in strings and arranging things so slickly and epically that you have to check the liners for a Dave Fridmann production credit. It's not there but it might as well be as large chunks of the record sound like Mercury Rev outtakes. Unfortunately like that band's late period releases, there's a hole where the soul should be. Tracks like "The Arm" and "Kids Don't Know Shit" sound bloated and Thorburn's constant bouts of dramatic over-singing give the album a desperate and affected feel. One of the best aspects of their first album was the playful sonic weirdness that was organically integrated into their sound; here it seems grafted on at the last minute. The faux-Latin jam in the middle of "J'Aime Vous Voir Quitter" sounds like Buster Poindexter wandered into the studio, and the bit on "In the Rushes" where they lift the conclusion of the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" only serves to remind you of how it's possible to be epic without being over-bearing and cold; these attempts at adventurism fall embarrassingly flat. The songs that do work on Arm's Way are the few that strip back the bombast and show a little bit of restraint like the slinky disco rocker "Creeper," the relatively calm and melodic "To a Bond," or the melancholy ballad "Life in Jail," which incorporates the strings and oboe into the fabric of the song instead of just splashing them on top. Well, the first half of the song, anyway, until they break into a silly swing jam and then proceed to head back to the more familiar over-the-top territory of the rest of the record. Arm's Way is the sound of a band forgetting what made them fun and highly listenable and instead grasping for a grand statement that is far beyond their reach. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide