Island of Love by Island of Love
There’s something heartening about musicians who youthfully, openly display their influences while they also clearly try to forge their own sound. That could be why Island of Love caught the ear of Ben Swank, who co-founded Third Man with White Stripes maestro Jack White and Ben Blackwell.
Because Island of Love found a do-it-yourself ethos within the London punk scene and gained support from a fellow Londoner, producer Ben Spence, the band hasn’t varnished its rougher edges on its first full-length LP. Nor has engineer Jack Shirley, who’s worked with styles ranging from Redd Kross’s full-power pop to Deafheaven’s black-metallic shoegaze, Brylcreemed the band’s shagginess.
Yet the sonic focus is sharp on almost everything, whether it’s just one of the guitarists, Karim Newble, picking his way acoustically through a minute of back-porch rumination on “Weekend at Clive’s,” or it’s the entire ensemble roaring and sprinting through “Fed Rock.”
Newble and the band’s other guitarist, Linus Munch, share songwriting and lead-vocal duties, while bassist Daniel Alvarez Giraldo and drummer Jimmy Guvercin (who isn’t officially in the band) hold down the fort or blow out its doors, depending on the requirements of the moment.
Those requirements shift rapidly: “Big Whale” opens the LP with fuzzily soaring alt-rock chords, then descends into grungier fuzz a la Failure, while “It Was All OK Forever” almost closes the LP with slacker blues, then a powerhouse Pixies chorus, and then seems to slow to a stop before the title track recalls John Cale’s wildly portentous ballads, Santo & Johnny’s genuinely romantic 1959 instrumental “Sleep Walk,” and knees-up pub singalongs from the Faces.
In between, Island of Love evokes Dinosaur Jr. (“Grow”), Britrock bluesiness (“Sweet Loaf”), mellower Kinks (“Charles”), and even the brutalist groove of Silkworm (“Losing Streak”). If Island of Love hasn’t finished forging its own sound yet, it makes a fine and fierce racket with the tools of forging.
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Stream or download Island of Love at Amazon here.
