Alive 2008: Islands

A concert review...

Islands w/ AWOL One and Crayonsmith
The El Ray, Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I injured my foot on Sunday, so I can't go running for another day or so, but I can still go to concerts, right? I already saw half of an Islands set this year at Coachella, but they'd gotten delayed and ended up playing opposite Kraftwerk, so we left halfway through. As it turns out, Kraftwerk are an entirely pointless band to see live--the concert equivalent of chilling out and watching tv--but I was glad to have an excuse to go to a real Islands show.

We deliberately arrived late to miss local opener AWOL One, but ended up missing the bulk of psychedelic Islands tour-mate Crayonsmith instead. The Dublin-based artist's attire was half chicken costume, half Greek soldier, and the whole thing seemed fun enough--plus cute accent--but what was most surprising was how jam-packed the El Ray was. I'm guessing it had to do with its being an all ages show. School's out for summer?

Missing AWOL One might've been nice. It was an insultingly inappropriate opener, a spare hip-hop show that highlighted his elementary rapping skills over mostly recycled beats, throwing water on an underwhelmed audience and dwelling on elementary hooks such as "Everyone used to be a baby," "It isn't what I'm smoking!" and "Don't let anyone bring you down." Really, sometimes you need to be brought down, if only as constructive criticism. An older man in front of us sat down after the first ten minutes and shook his head for the remainder of the set. I concur. At one point his massive sidekick referenced Pinkerton's "El Scorcho", which made me think they really did think that their material would work for this audience--hey, Nick Thorburn does have a hip-hop side-project--but then, as said sidekick exited the stage, he insinuated that this audience would rather be listening to Panic at the Disco. I wasn't sure if it was a reference to the audience's average age (16) or a depressingly misguided jab at indie, but Panic at the Disco would actually have been been a whole lot better. Perhaps there's a time and a place for this, but it's not before an experimental, six-piece rock band.

Islands wisely chose to wait another half-hour before taking the stage, opening with Arm's Way epic closer "Vertigo (If It's a Crime)" before launching into the album's spectacular opener "The Arm". What's most striking here is how impressive they are as a band. The stage is full, but everyone there has a purpose. Aside from Nick Thorburn, the drummer, the lead guitarist, and the bassist, Alex and Sebastian Chow impressed by playing dual violins, doing back-up vocals, taking on all those extra instruments during the band's signature tropical interludes scattered throughout the songs, and adding a little bit of humor and lightness to an otherwise serious set. As at Coachella, they stuck almost exclusively to the new album, interrupting only to do "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby" and saving "Rough Gem" and "Swans" for the encore. It may seem like an odd choice at first, given the mixed reception that Arm's Way received; however, it makes much more sense once you hear how impressive this album sounds live, especially in comparison to the less band-heavy "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby" and the keyboard-centric "Rough Gem"--songs that I'd otherwise consider their best. If Arm's Way is a flawed album, it's only that despite all it's experimentation, most of the songs, on a basic level, sound alike, something that become a problem in concert--although never a big one, considering the band. In terms of songwriting, it's a somewhat awkward stage for Islands, but given Thorburn's considerable melodic and lyrical talent, I'm convinced that it's an approach destined to yield some amazing results in the future (assuming Thorburn does decide to continue the project.) Good job, guys.

8/10

Also: I didn't take pictures, but it was something like this, although a little less ridiculous. Thorburn chose to eschew the mime make-up this time around, instead donning an equally dramatic, "Creeper"-appropriate blood-soaked tee.