Islands “No You Don’t”
Any new music from Nick Thorburn is a good thing, and the first song from the upcoming Islands album, Vapours, is no exception. “No You Don’t” is a slinky, mid-tempo song that features Thorburn’s usual electric production and quirky lyrics that fans have come to expect. After the gargling intro melts into processed drums and warped sounding keyboard lines, Thorburn joins in with the lyrics “Don’t buy dope from the man you don’t know.” Things get joyfully weirder from there.
Thorburn, who in my book rivals Why?’s Yoni Wolf in terms of oddball pop lyrical genius, spins his usual warped prose over the band’s electro-rock groove to create a great entry point for Islands’ new album. The group’s last LP, the slightly disappointing Arms Way, follows the great debut Return to Sea and the vastly underrated Who Will Cut Our Hair When We are Gone (under the Unicorns moniker). I just hope that Vapours finds Thorburn and crew—including Jamie Thompson who has now re-joined the group—returning to the great weirdo pop music that we know they have in them.
Just a note…I compared Thorburn and Wolf BEFORE I heard the new Why? CD, which is a pretty fucking awesome disc. Although I really have loved his work in the past, I am not holding my breath for Vapours to be anywhere near as great as Eskimo Snow.