Islander: Hard Rock That Doesn’t Suck

New York City hasn’t had a radio station that plays new rock music in several years, so I live in near-complete isolation from the hard rock world at large. I just assume that every new radio hard rock band sounds just like the ones from fifteen years ago, and anytime I venture out into the rest of the US and turn on the radio I find out that that’s precisely the case.

So when a pitch from leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS landed in my inbox earlier this week touting Islander as having “constant spins on syndicated radio stations, features in major music magazines, and major rock radio tours lined up,” I was skeptical. Islander are decent, though, at least if their single “Coconut Dracula” is any indication. No, they’re not reinventing the wheel, but the song doesn’t conform to mook-ish genre tropes, the bandmembers don’t abide by the Active Rock Dress Code of guyliner, died black/bonde hair, pre-fab torn jeans and sashes, and the song is catchy in a way that’s not trite. In short: they’re pretty good!

Then again I’ve only heard this one song, so maybe my assessment of the band is a bit hasty. Tell me if I’m wrong in the comments section below.