In 2005, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Nick Thornburn and drummer Jamie Thompson’s band, Islands, was born upon the demise of The Unicorns, their previous group, very successful project. Since then, the Canadian band has featured a regularly changing lineup of contributing members: Alex and Sebastian Chow, the 1993 and 1994 World Super N.E.S. Fest champions (I’m not really sure what that means, maybe something to do with Nintendo?); Jim Guthrie, grandson of Woody; rappers Subtitle and Busdriver (no idea who they are); and Richy Parry from the great band, Arcade Fire.
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.