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I’ll be honest- I’m used to shows starting late, and seeing as how I was still nursing my Sputnik-Brunch-Induced hangover around 3 p.m. or so the day of the Islands show, I didn’t show up to the Bluebird until 9:30, after both opening bands had played. So I’m afraid I still have no opinion of We Are, We Are or Ancient Mith. Apologies.

But Islands sufficiently rocked a good-sized school night crowd Monday, to a world-music-infused brand of indie rock from my current favorite rock region: French Canada. The band’s first song reminded me a lot of local heroes d.Biddle, with a heavy Western twinge and a melancholy drone. But things changed pretty distinctly with the rest of the set, with songs a little like what you might get if you put Paul Simon’s “Graceland” in a blender with a non-annoying version of They Might Be Giants and the tiniest touch of metal guitar. This doesn’t sound like it would work. But it does. Enough to make me declare this one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.

While it’s nothing new in the current music milieu to have any number of exotic instruments in a rock band, the challenge is to use them not only to advantage but as more than a gimmick. Islands managed to involve guitars, viola, violin, bass clarinet, bass, keyboards and an adorably enthusiastic drummer in a cohesive and symphonic mix.

The only critique I really have with this show was that the sound wasn’t the best I’ve heard at the ‘Bird. Vocals got lost in the mix and sometimes strings and sax got drowned out by guitar. Other than that, Islands reminded me of the reason I would drag my hungover ass to any venue on a work night. Because every once in a blue moon, you get something like this.