Posted by Morrissey on 11/17/2006, 12:16 pm Door: £N/A Times: 8PM - 2AM Some early press on the Perfumed Lands CD/LP: "And so New Yorks obsession with late-70s/80s Manchester indie continues: as Interpol and The Rapture are to Joy Division and The Mondays, so fey, bookish types The Isles are the bastard children conceived under a derelict iron bridge in one of Morrisseys dreams about Johnny Marr. Their debut is not immediate, not least because singer Andrew Geller breezily croons his deceptively dark tales of unrequited love like a gently stoned Moz. Instead, it slowly seeps in condensation on the walls of a Manchester bedsit. At the height of the heatwave, the Marrsian jangle of Eve of the Battle and Our Kitchen Test sound hazily summery. Keep listening til winter, though, and theyll take on a more menacing tone. Perfumed Lands then: a slow-burn album for all seasons." "Throughout the Isles stellar debut album, Perfumed Lands, the band re- interpreters The Smiths sound in a set of songs that show the influence of post-millennial New York rock and roll as much as early british indie. As smooth and effortlessly tuneful as all the songs on Perfumed Lands are, each component of the bands playing are the product of careful arrangements...Complex guitar lines intermingle with inverted drumming and melody charged baselines creating a dense pallet for lead singer Andrew Gellars stilted higher register to float through. The effervescence and pop smarts that The Isles deliver come as a breathe of fresh air in an indie scene that is so often dominated by spastic playing, boring lyrical come-ones, and excessively flashy drum fills. If they keep it up, the indie scene might have a new genre..." "...a remarkably wonderful albumwhat you have collectively is something of a rare beautified treat that appears to surprise itself with each passing track...it immediately radiates and illuminates your listening space with its softly measured hazily induced good to be alive vibe...a wholesome, no nonsense, fat and filler free collection of some of the most irresistible melodic nuggets to which to hang your expectant ear during these lengthening summer nights... Perfumed Lands subtly wraps you around its fingers delivering glancing sucker punches. Laden with a swooning array of charismatically catchy hooks, instead of attempting to blow you away by sitting up close and personal nose to nose they rather more curdle and glow as though being set on a back burner to simmer, all at once engaging and alluring they draw you like a fly to a spiders web... Take yourself and a loved one, find yourself a tree, a nice cool drink, settle yourselves down in the company of New Yorks old English sound. Pop perfection guaranteed." "Beautifully flowing soft guitar pop that is reminiscent of British music from the 1980s... the four fellows in this band play thoughtful, intelligent, instantly hummable upbeat music that is easy on the ears and yet...has strange qualities that keeps the listener coming back for more. Perfumed Lands is a success due to the restrained arrangements, excellent songwriting, and obviously impressive talent of the people involved in making the music...Isles is easily one of the best new bands of the year. (Rating: 5++)" "Their single already impressed us with their Anglophile guitar attack and sumptuous melodies, so we were glad they hadnt changed a winning streak for their debut. Just one listen to the crystalline, strumming guitars on Our Kitchen Test and Flying Under Cheap Kites, would make you think theyve been masterminded by Nick Heyward. Its not just a case of mimicking the Brits though...their own jangle rush gloriously presides." "Throughout the record its production is pristine, utilizing hi-fi and low-fi sounds to suit and always sounding perfectly mixed. If The Isles were about it the early/mid 80s they would not have been out of place alongside the like of The Smiths and R.E.M at all, as it is they're bringing back a grand style of music that you can never get enough of, and it's a very welcome change from the sludge that is becoming of the unchanging industry..." "Combining fey, mopey British-accented vocals with solid, straightforward backup from drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars, Isles have a very classic sound that seems to have jumped straight out of 1980's England. This is not homespun twee, friends, Isles have a very polished, mainstream pop sound that is tailor-made for radio play." "Fans of Smiths, Lucksmiths, Bloc Party and other pop from and inspired by Britain and the 80's will be immediately won over by Isles. If Neil Finn had been in the Smiths, they might've sounded something like this." " this band does 80s-inspired British melancholy so convincingly it's a genuine surprise to learn that they hail all the way from New York...what follows would make a convincing case for a shoegaze renaissance it's impossible not to feel like The Isles have got a really good thing going here. Rating: 4/5 " "The album has a charm about it which should appeal to a very diverse crowd. It has a worked-edge to it and an air of perfection. An album for the Summer and those feel-good days." "The music on this album stands on its own as something to be embraced as hopeful, if not a bit jaded by life and young love. Songs like the album opener Major Arcana drop the listener directly into memories of the Britpop heyday. Its music that you cant help but get sucked into, humming and dancing badly too." "This will have NME readers everywhere dancing like idiots before too long." "On their debut, New Yorkers The Isles produce a silkier English grey better than any of their contemporaries. Perfumed Lands has the feel of The Smiths or early Morrissey, songs that fans of Manchester-melodica will appreciate...It is refreshing to see a band not doing the punk-dance-indie combo- again- but embracing some traditional techniques and getting it oh-so-right." "There is a real buzz on this New York four-piece. This is partly through the unsettling dichotomy of making more like residents of 1980s Salford than those of a 21st century New York, where they have successfully distilled in their debut album all that was good about the miserabilists into a thoroughly modern package." "The Isles, like their Manc forebeaers, are unusually sensitive souls, their music so fully alive to this world; its quietly endured sorrows and fleeting joys. The guitar arrangements are as delicate and sacred as Communion wafers, the vocal beautifully distanced, seeming not to come from your stereo speakers as some celestial plane and then there are the nervous, tenterhooks rhythms. Songs such as Flying Under Cheap Kites and Hide Your Work are deceptive, seemingly tender, yet packing a concussion-inducing emotional punch. With Perfumed Lands, theyve landed a sublime, Hand in Glove knockout." "The Isles seem to be doing something right with tracks like the tambourine-ratting 'Major Arcana' and the jolly trot 'Hide Your Work'. The Isles will no doubt prove to be just as an important signing for Melodic as the Dears were to Bella Union two years ago. These guys really are that romantically appealing." "I believe the biggest compliment anyone can give a band or an album is publicly stating that while it's not your typical fare, said band/album will win you over. Consider Perfumed Lands and The Isles to fit such a statement. Its gift is allowing the listener to focus on each song's outer beauty." http://www.myspace.com/theisles
82.110.54.210
Saturday 18 / 11 / 2006
THE ISLES plus guests THE NIGHTJARS / PIERRE HALL & THE LEAD BALLOONS plus DJ Duncan till late...
LEAD BALLOONS: 8.30pm
NIGHTJARS: 9pm
Advance: £6* Buy tickets online
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Record Collector
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