Islands - Creeper
Why We like it: This album is complete. How many times do you listen to an album and hear the same song 8 times? It doesn’t happen w/ the Montreal based indie lo-fi ‘Islands.’ From beautiful backing violins, to grungy guitars, it’s what I’ve been praying some indie band would do. And it’s very different from their freshman record, ‘Return to Sea.’ (which is still a good thing)

Why We don’t: They’re from Montreal. And I think there’s just too much damn good music coming out of Canada right now. The states have a few good artists, but our upstairs neighbor is just kicking our ass and laughing about it at this point. Seriously.

Like Artists: Of Montreal, Wolf Parade, Tapes N Tapes

Genre: Indie Rock, Lo-Fi, Canadian

Free Islands tunes @ Daytrotter.

Why we like it: Walk It Off breathes fury. It’s like The Shins all adopted distortion, and a drug habit that they couldn’t stop. While the band would like to classify themselves as ’style-defying,’ I say it’s your average record coming out about now, and you guys have nothing stellar to offer. That being said, I really want to go see them live and get drunk.
Why we don’t: Nothing stands out. I can’t pick out a favorite song, a single, or a given song that I’d like to recommend to you. The same is true of Of Montreal, so if you love them, you’ll get into Tapes N Tapes. The lo-fi production, while stellar, doesn’t leave any room for greatness here. Highly disappointed, but hell, you might dig it.
Like Artist: Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Of Montreal
Genre: Indie, Rock, Lo-Fi