I had been concerned that iLiKETRAiNS had railroaded themselves into a bit of a cul-de-sac. Their first phase, as represented by a trio of cracking singles and the mini-album Progress Reform established them as masters of the crescendo, haunting, reverb-drenched guitars and baritone vocals building to cathedrals of sound. The first single to preface their debut album, the 9-minute epic ‘Spencer Perceval’ took this formula to its absolute limit, but the live shows suggested the album would deliver a greater diversity of styles and a leaning toward more muscular, percussion-driven songs.
Alas, the studio versions fell rather short of expectation, the power of the live performances being somehow compressed and delivered in an overly careful, somewhat lifeless and pedestrian manner.
And so tonight’s home gig, which marked a return after some months off, was something I had been eagerly anticipating for a while, in the hope of hearing new material and perhaps a fresh and rejuvenated-sounding iLiKETRAiNS. The recent release of 'The Christmas Tree Ship' EP, which appeared to hint at a new direction of sorts, being entirely instrumental, as well as seeing a change of moniker to the more conventional I Like Trains, suggested that such changes were likely.
In order to find out, I first had to wait through the supports acts: The ABC Club's brand of C86 generic indie was tedious and twee. It wasn't awful – part from the singer's complete lack of presence – but nor was it in any way remarkable. Jeniferever had more presence, but the set remained a mid-pace swirl of synths throughout, consisting of emo-tinged numbers reminiscent of 'Disintegration'-era Cure. Now, I love the Cure, but 'Disingegration' isn't my favourite album, and this was just a big yawn. The numerous fans present would probably disagree, though.
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ILT opened with '25 Sins' and followed with 'A Rookhouse For Bobby, and it did seem to be pretty much business as usual. New uniforms aside, I found myself cynically wondering if they'd put nearly as much effort in cultivating new tunes as Dave clearly had on his beard. Not that the older songs were played with anything less than complete conviction – 'Terra Nova' was magnificent even without the brass. I'm just demanding, and always want MORE from 'my' bands. And Trains delivered. The new songs may take a little while to bed in, to get accustomed to, but they're well crafted and the signs are good for the forthcoming album.
They encored with 'Spencer Perceval' and it's blinding. The 9-minute build up to a crescendo of mammoth proportions was, ultimately, worth the ticket price on its own. Yes, I DO Like Trains.
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