Let’s get it out of the way first: I don’t like their name, and while they’ve thankfully moved beyond the begging-to-be-bracketed-by-xXes “iLiKETRAiNS” styling to simply “I Like Trains”, their name just sounds dumb. Still, they’ve been a minor obsession of mine the past few days, and what I believe they get right far outweighs what they get wrong with their name.
I don’t hide my love for post-rock, but I’ve always had a problem with the addition of vocals. The neat narrative of so many songs seems a bad fit for the sprawling symphonies of drones and feedback found in GY!BE’s best work. ILT, however, finds a nice middle ground in which to put the vocal track — keeping the hallmark build-up, but paring back some of the more experimental facets of the genre. And what vocals they are - carefully-researched depictions of historical figures and events (like the Great London Fire of 1666 or, well, the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated) delivered in a style that calls to mind Nick Cave’s softer work. Though they’d probably balk at the description, my internal shorthand for their sound has been “The Decemberists gone goth”. I can live with that.
And, hey, they also blend tea!
