Our interview with Von Iva, this week’s featured band, has been a long time coming, as the band was on a short list of groups we wanted to feature back when we started a year and a half ago. With their infectious self-titled EP, these ladies won our hearts early on and we’ve been hooked since, anticipating their full length debut for a while now.

If you’ve heard that EP, you might be in for a surprise listening to the group’s debut full length Our Own Island. The post-punk/dance-rock element from the earlier work has been minimized, as the band, now a trio, has moved toward a more electro- and synth-focused sound. The new Von Iva songs build on the best qualities of the EP and take them to an entirely new level; the band’s skill with catchy as hell, dance-inducing jams is sharper than ever, and Jillian Iva’s strong, soulful voice is simply captivating.

Few bands exert stage presence like this one, so it wasn’t a surprise when we sat down with the band a few weeks ago and found them very engaging and passionate, as they spoke about the importance of capturing something honest and real in their music. In addition to our conversation, we’ve included four songs from Our Own Island included in this week’s episode.

We’re excited to see the new album performed live, and we’ll get our opportunity this Saturday night:

Saturday, October 6th
Red Devil Lounge
with The Bruises
8pm, $10 advance/$12 door (purchase advance tickets here)

You can hear some more music over at Von Iva’s MySpace page and you can purchase Our Own Island at their web site and on iTunes. The band has a couple of shows in New York later this month for CMJ as well.

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