Islands’ Vapours Not Ambitious, Just Good.
Islands’ Vapours won’t leave you breathless, but it doesn’t have to.
Islands
Vapours
Released on Sep 22, 2009
Islands’ Vapours acts as the third act in a movie script that seems to be becoming more and more common in indie music these days: band releases bubbly, critically-acclaimed debut album to general public excitement (in Islands’ case, 2006’s Return to the Sea). After at least one victory-lap promotional tour, an appearance on Conan or Letterman, and at least six months of radio silence, band releases darker, denser, less-accessible follow-up that is inevitably considered a disappointment (last year’s underrated Arm’s Way). It’s a story that’s been told a lot in recent years (see: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, The Arcade Fire, and, coming in 2010, Vampire Weekend), and not one we’ve yet seen a lot of conclusions to; so, suffice it to say, Vapours enters the collective listener’s consciousness with the potential to go in a lot of different directions.
Thankfully, Islands handles this third-album challenge with confidence and grace. Vapours doesn’t try too hard, and it doesn’t seem a reaction toward or against critical responses to previous releases. If Arm’s Way drifted a bit too far away from Return to the Sea’s bubbly, up-tempo pop in favor of a heavier sound, Vapours strikes a balance between the two sounds, reemphasizing the band’s expertise at creating catchy, calypso-tinged pop songs while occasionally delving into the ominous feel reminiscent of Arm’s Way.
Opener “Switched On” pretty much encompasses everything Islands does right, uniting fractured synth lines and the occasional trebly guitar splat with an irrepressible conga drum groove. It’s a song built more on rhythmic intensity than melody, though both are superb. Vocalist Nick Thornburn’s delivery adds even more to the dynamic, stretching and bending the song’s relatively generic lyrics to fit the rhythmic construct.
“No You Don’t” follows, its disco-style drum feel and synth melody contrasted by a jagged and angular guitar sound. It’s a song best described as the kind of thing Ratatat might write if Ratatat had a vocalist, yet doesn’t feel at all contrived or forced, remaining completely in tune with Islands' sonic identity.
Title track “Vapours” sounds like a Return to the Sea B-Side, an exercise in instantly memorable, expansive pop songwriting. Starting simply, with Thornburn crooning along with a guitar and thumping drumbeat, the song surprisingly finds room to build over its brief two minutes and forty-one seconds, adding trumpets, saxophones, and complex vocal harmonies, building to a closing crescendo.
Most of the album continues as one would expect following these opening tracks, offering a collection of ably-crafted pop songs that, if occasionally unremarkable, are likable and quite pleasing to the ear. The one step out of line over the album’s closing track is “Heartbeat”, which provides the aforementioned auto-tuned listening jolt. As with everything Islands does, however, the adaptation is made naturally and without forcing it. Where most uses of auto-tune I’ve heard have employed it in a “Hey, look at me! I’m using auto-tune!”-kind of fashion, Islands make it simply another tool in their sonic toolbox, layering it in to their sonic texture. It’s still jarring if you’re not expecting it (and possibly even if you are), but it definitely adds something positive to the song’s dynamic.
When it’s all said and done, Vapours will probably be considered a disappointment because it isn’t a life-changing listening experience. But it’s not the kind of album that has to be, if only because Islands aren’t a particularly life-changing band. What Vapours aims for and succeeds at is being accessible while still maintaining a degree of depth and sonic density, trying out different textures and feels and absorbing them into Islands’ particular sound. And as a third act to the “Band of Critical Acclaim” narrative, it at least puts Islands on a kind of Yo La Tengo-esque career trajectory, the band’s versatility and expert songwriting offering the opportunity for a long and consistently rewarding career. Though it may not be particularly ambitious, it’s still pretty good, and that’s really all that matters.
High Point
“Vapours” is probably going to be the “Rough Gem” of this particular album (the song I immediately go to whenever I put the album on), but “Heartbeat” gets the high point nod for the sheer brass ones required to be an indie-rock band using auto-tune.
Low Point
There really isn’t one. Vapours is a remarkably consistent album that avoids a lot of pitfalls.
Posted by David Sitrick on Sep 22, 2009 @ 6:00 am
