Islands

How do you go from Beach Boys pop to calypso to Queen to dance punk to Mars Volta to orchestral rock ... in one album? Strike that -- in one song? Listen to Arm's Way and you'll get a good idea. In a similar vein as their Montreal amis Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, Islands create a bedlam of playful arrangements rolled up in a tidy package. Flourishing with cascades of hooks, classical strings, bluesy buildups and theatrical harmonies, the approach may be eccentric but the flow is silky smooth. Forget which track is what; this is an album to experience in its entirety.

On their 2006 debut, this Montreal six-piece were like a pothead carnival of bloopy synths,
African rhythms and pop-culture references. But on Arm's Way, gifted singer-songwriter
Nick Thorburn broadens the band's quirk-pop into wonderfully shambolic arena rock — for
an arena of 5,000 people. Guitars mingle with viola, clarinet and piano, hopping genres and
tempos with an Of Montreal-style theatricality. "Pieces of You" begins with a gyp... More >