Islands – The Garage, London 19/10/12

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There was a period between 2004 and 2007 when being in a Canadian indie-rock band was the most hip thing imaginable. Arcade Fire were undoubtedly the vanguard of the Canuck hypewave, but many other great bands came to prominence in their wake, including Nick Thorburn’s Islands, who took the light-hearted, lo-fi pop of his previous (and much-mourned) band The Unicorns and transformed it into something more mature and ambitious in its scope.

Unfortunately, the maple-leaf invasion was a transient one, and the likes of Islands found themselves sidelined or ignored for whatever chill-house or post-witchstep artiste was in vogue at the moment. Indeed, their latest album A Sleep & a Forgetting was released with an almost insulting lack of fanfare, which would perhaps account for why the Garage, not known for being a particularly voluminous gig venue, is at most one-third full tonight – which is particularly depressing, as Thorburn’s songwriting is as strong as it’s ever been.

More straightforward but emotionally honest than his earlier work, there’s a focus in his beautifully crafted but unostentatious new material that wasn’t always present in his stylistically chaotic prior albums. Although there’s few truly outstanding songs a la ‘Swans’ (performed in its full 10-minute glory tonight) there’s precious little filler either, which results in a show that rarely drags or lacks in charm. True, Thorburn, a mercurial frontman if there ever was one, clearly isn’t over the moon about the poor turnout – his banter is limited and curt, there are none of the crowd-surfing antics of previous London shows and at times it seems like he is trying to rush through the set.

But in spite of that, there is no sense that the band is phoning it in; the performance remaining passionate, the songs full of heart and towards the end, Thorburn even lightens up a little. It may not be the best-attended gig in the world, and they may no longer be the flavour of the month, but if there’s one conclusion to be drawn from this thoroughly enjoyable show, it’s that these Islands are well worth revisiting.