Return To The Sea
- Islands
- Band Name: Islands
- Record Label: Equator / Rough Trade
- Release Date: Apr 4, 2006
- Critic Score
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A rich, exciting, and emotionally deep sounding album that carries on the freewheeling spirit and sound of the Unicorns as well as that of the Elephant 6 bands of the late '90s.
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90The duo's current sonic incarnation favors melody over mayhem, and all the better for it.
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84Return to the Sea is a case of Diamonds and Tambeur yanking up their anchor and setting sail for new waters, enjoying the freedoms of exploration and discovery.
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84It's sprawling, ambitious pop music. It's just not perfect--not yet. [#20, p.92]
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The Frank Zappa/Neutral Milk Hotel/Muppet Show vibe doesn't always jibe, but that's half the fun. [7 Apr 2006, p.63]
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83This album is a great deal of fun.
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A tighter, more controlled version of The Unicorns' wackiness.
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Islands have made a grand entrance into the indie-rock world. [Summer 2006, p.90]
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Those who felt like maybe they were starting to get Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? only to be left out by Unicorns' sudden dissolution should be reassured that Return to the Sea is a more rooted and confident effort.
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Return to the Sea is filled with breezy, infectious melodies and quirky whip-smart lyrics; qualities that were sometimes lost underneath the Unicorns' shtick.
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Return to the Sea reins in its eccentricities successfully enough to illustrate that the most understated risks can be the most rewarding.
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80What is surprising is the consistent quality of the songwriting.
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Thanks to some subtly disquieting diction it's almost as disturbingly memorable as a cuddly cartoon blood orgy.
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A one-way ticket to the outer limits of the solar system. [8 Apr 2006, p.39]
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Amid the highlife guitars and percussion that give Sea a delightful Afro-pop sheen... it's impossible to ignore the creeping conventionalism of the disc's best tracks. [Jun 2006, p.178]
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60At times Return To The Sea can be too clever for its own good. But there's also an ambition here that's hard to knock. [May 2006, p.126]
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60While the bouncy good-time foolery is charming enough in small doses, Islands' relentlessly giddy glee gets annoying awfully fast.
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There are some redeeming qualities, but for every success there are one or two failures.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 28 out of 31
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Mixed: 3 out of 31
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Negative: 0 out of 31
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[Anonymous]10One of the best this year. A constantly fun and interesting listen. "Swans (Life After Death)" is one of the best songs this year.
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FlinchBot10Album of the year so far.
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KevinM9