Future Islands - On The Water

xp ok, cool. I will search it out and read it as penance.

I saw this for the first time, it's entertaining but I'm gonna put the 'viral' success down to slow news week. Dude looks like he's trying to do a version of that "Tom Jones goes crazy" video, only indie rock, and thus, way more awkward.

just to make it clear, Future Islands have always been like this live. even when they're an opening act playing for 100 people.

this was amazing and all of you who are jaded idiots are jaded and idiots

al otm

To put it mildly, there’s no other frontman quite like him, a strange mix of earnestly old-fashioned and deeply weird.

Holy shit.

I've seen the name Future Islands but I never even thought of looking them up.

So, I know nothing of them.

And the first things I see, hear or read about them are these last few posts and video.

Fucking blown away. I was sleeping and waking up reading random shit and just stopped everything to listen to their new album (or collection of singles?).

I can't be bothered to find Al's post, but yes. I get a feeling from the singer's performance that his lyrics are heartfelt and pretty genuine. It may be maudlin but I love that; it's so refreshing. But I like people who are unashamedly themselves and just happen to be quirky or weird as fuck (not done on purpose or to make a point or whatever).

And um...I don't mean to go off-topic too much, and it certainly does not matter, but the singer's right arm seems bigger than his left. Is this a medical condition or does he work one out more than the other by chance or am I seeing things?

that's the one he hits himself in the chest with

haha. surely you jest, j

i mean, correlation/causation?

he obviously does it really hard!

i mean, he does, which is something i find strangely appealing. very emotive.

k, will continue enjoying this album

i couldn't help but think that on letterman the hulk was singing his most heartfelt song ever, his poignant stab at making himself understood to people who don't knock walls over with their unwieldy bodies and can just emote with their faces

and then sure enough

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19124-future-islands-singles/

Just after “Like the Moon” comes the album’s highpoint, the post-mortem ballad “Fall From Grace”. It could be a Beach House song with its below-freezing tempo and a spotlight on Cashion’s guitars, but then Herring gets to thinking about one of those heartbreak events and it all comes rushing back above this overdriven baritone guitar. He unknots all the emotion that has only bubbled up until now and asks one last question about their love and basically Hulks out: “was it ALL INSIDE OF ME?” The moment is arresting, and in the context of the sometimes mushy poetry of the album, these four words are blinding and absolutely unforgettable.

i wish ilm of yore (10-12 years back) could hear this, you can tell from all the reviews so far that the reviewers find something mysterious about the record and they genuinely enjoy taking a crack at figuring it out right as it's happening instead of the same old content-generation grind

Nice coincidence. I'm two minutes away from that song.

Just bought the record from the 4AD site!

my bro sent me some video clips from the show in Grand Rapids. i just wish I could have been there. "Balance" is great live. I also like that they are LOUD (i capitalized the letters to convey the increased amplitude of the longitudinal waves).

∞, you will probably love On the Water too!

googling!

Concert in Fargo (yup) this Saturday. Opening act apparently accompanies himself on bongos. Shall debrief after ears stop ringing.

yeah wow this record is nice

I'm gonna have to take a break then listen to all the records again. I suspect On the Water will remain my favorite but Singles is very strong. Infinity Symbol, you should definitely pick that one up too, then go backwards. Some of their non-album singles are great too - check this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcnNS7WiLV4

theres definitely a bit of jokiness to it that went away as of In Evening Air, but it might be their catchiest tune

'a song for our grandfathers' is wonderful

frogbs, will do. Thanks!

It's on Spotify so I'll preview it first. I don't want to buy too many records right now, as I'll be moving and don't want to carry too many records on the plane. Actually, I don't even know how I will transport the ones I have left, which aren't that many.

'a song for our grandfathers' is wonderful

haven't heard this one mentioned a lot but it's my favorite on the record right now

seems like the clear highlight to me

re Fargo show: They were loud, but the vox and keyboard/synth got buried in the mix. Singing style seemed less affected than on the new album. No bongos involved in opening act.

Singles is a massive grower. Got round to listening to their previous two albums too. They are not really what I was expecting, quite strange records but very enjoyable.

I have this really exciting of feeling of finding a new favourite band. Already been checking out t-shirts on their website.

Oh, also have to agree that Song For Our Grandfathers is just wonderful.

It has been a joy discovering this band of late. No idea how I'd overlooked them, right up my street. Came across them on the back of praise for 'Singles' and while it's great 'In Evening Air' totally blew me away. A wonderful record.

That Letterman performance linked upthread is outstanding, one of the best live on TV things I've ever seen. The vocalist seems like a lovely guy in interviews and I think he has an amazing and expressive voice. One thing that is nagging me though, and I hope I don't ruin the band for anyone, is the similarity I just can't shake between him and *shudders* Jack Black.

i get more of a young brando look personally

jack black has a great voice

he used to be heavier so it was more clear he was a fellow "surprisingly agile rotund dude"

I can't get the mental image of the guy from Crash Test Dummies doing a Joe Cocker impression when I listen to this band. Even that doesn't stop me from enjoying the album though.

http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/andrew-mccluskey-future-islands

^ omd's mccluskey loves, respects it

catching up on this thread just prompted me to watch the letterman clip again. dude is just entrancing, moreso with each viewing, i think.

Opinions on Chris Coady's role in the album's sound?

Am I the only one getting a Fine Young Cannibals vibe from this? Or is that old news?

I mentioned Roland Gift in my review: his voice mixes Gift, Wayne Casey, and David Johansen.

i got a rod stewart vibe, right off the bat.

Okay, so I just watched their Coachella performance on Youtube and pissed myself laughing throughout. You'd think that this kind of thing would be exactly up my street, but sadly not.

A friend of mine just summed it up as "a Gerry Anderson puppet on cowies growling incomprehensibly over piss-weak electro pop". Yup, that about sums up my view also.

^Lol this guy bloke.

major future islands takedown pip pip cheerio

A friend of mine just summed it up as "a Gerry Anderson puppet on cowies growling incomprehensibly over piss-weak electro pop". Yup, that about sums up my view also.

― Toni Braxton-Hicks (Turrican)

This guy is a fan. http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/andrew-mccluskey-future-islands

what the fuck is cowies?

any1 catch these guys on Letterman?

This guy is a fan. http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/andrew-mccluskey-future-islands

― Kitchen Person, Monday, April 14, 2014 10:06 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I saw that posted above. I'm a huge OMD fan but... nah, this isn't for me.

Carl Wilson:

With Future Islands, it’s like they’ve put the post-coital cigarette at the beginning of the song and ended it with the casual accidental meeting. The storyboards of their relationship to the audience are cut and shuffled and fanned out and scrambled – and yet by the close, like a street magician, they look up and smile, and say, “So was your card the King of Hearts?” And we say, yes, goddamn it, yes, it was. How did you do that?

http://333sound.com/2014/04/21/lets-talk-about-love-week-the-sound-of-post-taste-pop-future-islands-play-seasons-waiting-on-you-on-david-letterman-march-2014/

Also,

It’s schmaltz that via either semiotic brilliance or lucky poetic misfire plays for higher stakes.

I like Carl, but when he writes that the song is a "logical successor to “Yacht Rock” as a genre due for semi-ironic reclamation" I grind my teeth all over again. I'm only a handful of years younger than he so, show or not, what the hell is so unpalatable about, what, the Michael McDonald-led Doobie Bros that needed semi-ironic reclamation?