I rarely drink coffee, but while indulging in a mochaccino fix last night at a nearby cafe, I unfortunately missed The Magic, who opened for Islands in Montreal on Wed, May 28^th. After the success of their first album Return To The Sea, Islands have released their 2008 follow up Arm’s Way and held the CD launch at Le National last night.

The venue was packed with an eager artsy-punk-pop crowd. The balmy indoor heat set the perfect tropical ambiance for the much-anticipated Islands show. His face covered in white make up, Nick T. opened with a gentle falsetto and continued with confident vocals throughout the show. The music was solid, danceable indie pop. Violins and horns added texture and nice layers to the sound. Most melodies were memorable, upbeat, and tight, many started off brooding and slow to develop into melancholy ballads.

At one point, curiosity got the best of her, and a girl from the audience demanded: “Explain your face!” “That’s what the bully used to say to me in grade nine: explain your face,” Nick T. reminisced, “That’s mean.” Some comments made by Nick made less sense than others. See if you can decipher this one: “ It’s great to be back. It’s like we went to the year 1959 and then came back…and nothing’s changed…in a good way.” Having limited myself to only one vodka cranberry for the whole night, my relatively sober mental faculties did nothing to help me make sense of this statement, delivered with an air of intrigue and profundity that flew far over my head.

In the middle of the set, Nick T. wished to absolve himself of guilt for not getting a birthday present for his tour manager. “On the count of three, everybody say ‘Happy Birthday!” and the audience happily followed suit.

For the encore, Islands chose a slower, gloomier number. “We’re gonna play a real downer. We’ve been really depressed lately, so we’re trying to bring you down. We’re getting there.” Some of their slower tracks took a while to get somewhere, but the catchier beats, like Creeper, were a definite fun listen.

The Islands’ second album Arm’s Way has been described as darker than the debut Return To The Sea, with slower paced tracks. Accessible, infectious, and catchy pop music swimming in a sea of slower, brooding melodies – Islands put on a feel-good energetic performance. Check the dates on their myspace.

Photos care of Erik Naumann (http://pandastrong.com/) after the jump….

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