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Islands
Arm’s Way
[Anti-/May 20]

I have never really been able to get into The Unicorns. I tried several times back when ~~pitch~~shitfork was blowing their load all over them, but their brand of quirky, happy-go-lucky pop just isn’t for me, I guess. Coversely, though, I have always loved everything Islands has put out. Their latest (second) full-length finds them coming into their own as a band with an actual voice instead of just a post-Unicorns project. Arm’s Way is significantly darker than its predecessors, but damn, it’s dark in that sort of way that makes you kind of want to just solitarily confine yourself while you listen to your own insanity and dance happily and think about murdering past lovers and then dance some more. This record is loaded with creepy hooks (“Creeper”, with its intense but hilarious lyrics. “Pieces of You”, tongue-in-cheekily named after the Jewel song), and each listen brings out more of the quirky attitude that led to The Unicorns success. But while the band’s sense of humor is evident, these songs retain a certain maturity that doesn’t rely on eccentric weirdness to get the point across. Arm’s Way is by far one of the best albums released so far this year.

High point: Creeper

RIYL: The Unicorns, Arcade Fire, Spoon, David Bowie, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, MGMT