First point of order is some administrative business: (not like you guys would expect it anyway, BUT) I’m going to be in the woods ’till monday, so no updates ’till then. Thus ends the administrative business.
It took a few months, but I fell in love with the new Islands album. People have been taking this one out of the 6 disc changer almost since its been released, and I wish they’d stick it back into rotation. Thankfully Arms Way isn’t the what I would’ve expected from Islands, because what I would’ve expected from Islands was more or less a rehash of The Unicorns, but stacked like its gonna crumble with a strings sections, long rap interludes, and other such unnecessary extravagances. If the above paragraph reads vaguely like one of those nonsense spam e-mails that you get sometimes, then keep reading.
The best thing about Arms Way, in my opinion, is exactly how labored the album sounds. None of these tracks sound remotely freewheeling or even a little bit buoyant. They all feel like they evolved out of someone ripping up someone else’s lyrics sheet and the producer telling the band they can only afford 2 more studio days, so if they’re going to rewrite songs, they should do it before he gets back from taking a piss. These songs, many of them, do become dancefloor jamz, but first they’ve got to pull the covers off, eat breakfast, and earn enough money to pay the electric bill. Unlike so much indie-dance music, with Arm’s Way, the listener gets to see moment before the needle drops and the disco ball/loft-party equivalent of a disco ball (the asshole who showed up in the silver jumpsuit, perhaps) starts spinning. The payoff, this way, speaks twice as well. Here are two songs that do the same magic trick, with the same rabbit coming out of the same hat, one right after the other, and yet both will give you chills. And lead singer Nick Diamonds is a dead ringer for Chris Martin when he want to be.
“Kids Don’t Know Shit” and “Life In Jail” are both from Islands’ new album Arm’s Way.
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who knew that pokemon were so brilliantly indie? I can’t decide which of these I like better, this one or this one. You can view more of the brilliance at their creators page.
(and)
despite an innocuous name, I’d have to be crazy NOT to recommend Mussels to y’all as my current pick for pop punk summer jamz.
