Sunday, July 13, 2008

Thorburn Carries On


The frontman of the indie band Islands, Nick Thorburn, is definitely not the sanest man in the business. When asked by Stereogum what inspired the cover art on Islands' newest album, this is what ensued:
Interviewer: I wanted to ask about the Arm's Way album cover. Most of the reactions I saw to it were pretty perplexed. To me it suggested that if you opened up your chest there'd be some sort of 70's classic rock utopia inside. Is that fairly on-base?

Nick: No, it's a vagina.

On second thought, maybe he's saner than the rest of us. He seems to respond to the world quite bluntly, without hesitation, and, most importantly, absolutely truthfully. It'd be nice if we had more people like Nick in the world.

But if he was, in fact, the sanest of us all...how would we know?

All that aside, Thorburn is releasing a new side-project album with Jim Guthrie (they call themselves Human Highway) later in August. I listened to a few tracks on their Myspace, and was promptly placated by a sampling of the abounding talent I've come to expect of the man. Jim Guthrie (formerly of some band called Royal City, whoever that is) is a pleasant, surprise complement to the already-familiar crooner of Islands. If you wanted more (which I know you do), here's an interview Thorburn had with Pitchfork, posted yesterday. Enjoy yourself.

- Devon Maloney

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