Pitchfork: Islands (ex-Unicorns) To Play U.S. Shows

Islands (ex-Unicorns) To Play U.S. Shows

The Unicorns are dead, long live Islands! As previously reported in detail, Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur, two thirds of the Canadian freak-pop band the Unicorns, have formed a new group, Islands. Starting tonight, they'll take their show on the road to America for the first time. The touring lineup may or may not consist of recent helpers Jim Guthrie (Royal City), Mike Feuerstack (Wooden Stars) and Patrice Agbokou, but you never know with these guys. It could just be Diamonds, Tambeur, and a dancing bear on stage (especially at that Arizona State Fair gig). Dates:

10-27 La Jolla, CA - Rimac Arena *
10-28 Pheonix, AZ - Arizona State Fair & Exposition *
10-29 Las Vegas, NV - Vegoose Festival
10-30 Los Angeles, CA - Echo Lounge
11-05 Toronto, Ontario - UKULA Bright Lights Festival

* with Beck

Islands are currently working on their debut album, tentatively titled Return to the Sea and at last check, due sometime in January on Rough Trade, at least in Europe. The band haven't settled on a North American label yet. Speaking to Can-rock web journal ChartAttack.com in late September, Diamonds dropped some hints about the upcoming album's contributors: "Everyone in the Arcade Fire, everyone in Wolf Parade, except for the drummers and Win Butler, everyone in Bell Orchestre, except for the drummer, we already have a good drummer." He added, "No one is allowed to step on J'aime's toes and Win's not allowed to step on mine." Yeah, that would really hurt, given how frickin' tall Win Butler is.

Two Islands downloads, "Flesh" and "Abominable Snow", are still available from the blog Simple Mission here, if your ears are hungry. The boys also make a pair of appearances on the forthcoming Beck remix record, as Islands and as their hip hop alter-ego, Th' Corn Gangg. Word.