Islands - On Evolution and Existentialism

words by Caitlin Caven
photos by Randy Cremean

The crowd at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia is restless. The venue is packed to the gills, and teenage boys shuffle on their feet in a way that suggests that they are almost literally itching to start some sort of mosh pit. The six members of Islands come out and set up their equipment, then disappear backstage. Five minutes pass, then ten. The audience starts cheering and the house lights dim…then they unexpectedly come back up. Fifteen minutes pass. People check their cell phones and small-talk conversations run out of steam. It starts to feel like some sort of joke, like Islands is just sitting backstage and basking in the audience’s impatience. People begin to jostle and yell, chant, plead for Islands to start their show. After twenty minutes, the band files onstage. “Alright,” the message seems to be, “You’ve waited enough. You’ve paid your dues.” The band, for its part, is in a unique position to mete out judgments like this. They have waited enough, and they have paid their dues. Now, with a new album, a new lineup, and a new record deal with ANTI-, they’re in control. They explode into the first song of an incendiary set.