Three years ago, when the Unicorns admitted that they were ready to die, I didn’t think they really meant it. But after seeing the world and kissing all the pretty girls, the Unicorns made nice on their promise and broke up, becoming another legendary one-LP act (like the La’s, Operation Ivy, Jeff Buckley, the Monks and the Modern Lovers) that hit it and quit it for good.
The Montreal group’s 2003 full-length release, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? seemed to anticipate the group’s demise. It begins with the fearful anthem “I Don’t Wanna Die,” then the Unicorns meet some friendly ghosts that turn them on to the not-so-bad afterlife, after which they decide to quit their fears, accepting the fact that, yes, they are mighty but mortal Unicorns — and at the end they die alone on an island in the unapologetic “Ready To Die.” All with the childlike charm of lo-fi guitars, Jamie T’ambour’s brilliantly catchy drumming, Nick “Neil” Diamonds’ warbly postpubescent vocals and squibbles of cheap synthesizers.
Yes, they hit it, quit it and moved on, which brings the focus of the story to Islands, the group formed from two of the three Unicorns: Nick Diamonds and J’amie (their current stage names).
Islands are the Unicorns all grown up into adulthood. Instead of the loose mix of random squonks and layers of sing-song vocals, the arrangements are tight, filled full of legitimately orchestral instruments (tin whistles and fuzz traded in for French horns and strings) — the kind of “adult” songwriting that would pitch a tent in Brian Wilson’s khakis. To fill out the sound, the group enlists some help: both from the locals, featuring members of fellow Montreal groups the Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, and two Los Angeles MCs, Subtitle and the impressive Busdriver. (Both MCs rapped with the ‘Corns in the live-only twee/rap group Th’ Corn Gangg.)
Return to the Sea picks up where the Unicorns left off: thirsty, on an island, surrounded by beauty with death fast approaching. The lyrics soon turn to a fixation on a world postapocalyptic, where love stories about cannibalism go hand in hand with islands (Ha!) deserted by humanity. Thankfully, the occasionally dour (but usually clever) lyricism — “You can whistle my name / It’s the mines in Africa that are to blame,” and “If you ain’t sweet to me / I’ll dessert you in a heartbeat” — doesn’t prevent Diamonds from keeping to his irresistibly cutesy melodies. Now that he’s in a “serious” band, he sounds like he’s training to be Wayne Coyne’s (the Flaming Lips) replacement. Combined with J’amie’s perfectly complementary indie-rock syncopation, Islands seem prepared to take on the mainstream with a grab bag of mature, perfectly crafted songs, some of which make me forget that the Unicorns ever existed.
But while the Unicorns could win me over with their innocent sloppiness, there’s no room for mistakes with the meticulous Islands — and there are mistakes: The boring instrumental “Tsuxiit” (if only they could write ‘em like the Lips!) and a sleeper of a final song (the one before seven minutes of silence and an excellent bonus track) make me wish the Unicorns never up and went extinct. We all have to grow up sometime, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
Islands will perform at the Epicentre on May 4.
