London-based trio Island of Love recently announced their self-titled debut album, out May 12th on Third Man Records London. The band, who put on such an impressive live show that Third Man signed them on-the-spot after seeing them perform live, have already earned early support. Following the previously released “Grow” / “Blues 2000,” Island of Love shares a new single off of the forthcoming album entitled “Fed Rock.”

While “Grow” / “Blues 2000” featured Karim Newble on lead vocals, “Fed Rock” highlights co-frontman Linus Munch on vox, highlighting the way the band seamlessly shares both songwriting, guitar and vocal duties. The track find the band doubling down on the energy brought by the previous tracks, showcasing dueling guitars and the riotous spirit that the band brings to their incredible live shows.

“We wrote this song about a lot of the bands we were seeing around us when we first started gigging in London. It was one of the first songs written for the album and has always been a highlight of our set, and I think the faster pace of the song reflects the time it was written – the summer when we played our very first shows,” explains Munch. “We were moving from Ben’s studio (Fuzzbrain in London) to small venues for the first time and our set was still heavily weighted on the side of stoned jams like Tall Boots (from 2020 EP ‘Promo Tape’) and Head Case (from 2022 EP ‘Songs of Love’). We all felt this new creeping influence of bands like Thin Lizzy and Ramones which gave Fed Rock a different energy, while having a song in the set that said what we felt about certain bands we played alongside always made playing with them that little bit more bearable. The video was shot around Fuzzbrain with a small group of friends and family on a sunny day in February. The camera is shaky and the narrative is loose, but the spectacle of Dan’s Rambo-style blaze of glory at the mercy of two banana-wielding monkey detectives is alone worth the price of admission.”

In September 2021, Island of Love – Karim Newble on guitars/vocals, Linus Munch on guitars/vocals and Daniel Giraldo on bass –were invited to perform at the grand opening of Third Man’s The Blue Basement. It’s a good thing Island of Love showed up to the gig at all, given that the band didn’t even think the email invitation they received to play was real. That very real and not-spam offer during the band’s cigarette break not only led to their on-the-spot label signing, but to opening slots for Jack White, and now their exhilarating debut. Island of Love is a ferocious and bone-shakingly loud album that marries raw, primal noise led by crunchy guitars with intrinsically melodic sensibilities, and recalls the sound and spirit of peak-era Dinosaur Jr. or Husker Dü. With influences from the band’s start in the London hardcore punk scene and their DIY community roots, the album is elevated by the shared vocal and songwriting duties of Newble and Munch. Produced by Fuzzbrain’s Ben Spence and engineered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock, Joyce Manor), Island of Love is an album full of songs that pinball back and forth between tones and styles, and make up one of the most refreshing and fun debut albums you’ll hear in 2023. 

Photo Courtesy: Cole Flynn-Quirke