ISLES - Perfumed Lands Review

One of the joys of listening to The Smiths is the struggle that goes on between its two creative forces. As much as Johnny Marr’s ringing pop instrumentals seem to mesh perfectly with Morrissey’s biting insights and flamboyant persona, the diversity of their musical personalities are always at war with each other....full text When the Rutles released their Fab Four pastiche, songwriter Neil Innes found himself fending off a lawsuit for copyright infringement. You can only hope for the Isles' sake that the Smiths' lawyers aren't as sharp-eared, because this debut is a dot-to-dot, unhumorous homage to the seminal Mancs. Against the Marr-patented jangly guitar melodies, Andrew Geller does a good Moz, trilling about tulips in Tropical Lamby, when he should be waving gladioli....full text So apparently The Isles sound just like the Smiths, and the band’s front man has a dead-on Morrissey impression. Every piece of information I’ve come across about the band’s debut Perfumed Lands wants to make this painfully clear. It's nothing but distracting reading that about this New York City band, especially because it isn’t true....full text