November 1998

Any album has to stand on its own merits, regardless of any hype or lack of hype previous to the album release. But it's a rare album that catches my interest and holds it, while maintaining a good sense of humour all the while. Considering that This Train only want to do therecording thing as a hobby, their new album is pretty good.

Doubtless many of you are thinking, "Man, what a boring review so far." Extremely so, let me assure you. For whatever reason, I just can't write a funny review. Gosh, I've tried several times to start this review, tried to talk about the weird vocal samples at the start of the opening track, tried to make the surf-rockabilly-punk agglomeration sound normal, all in the name of writing a fun review. However, it just hasn't happened.

I can tell you, though, that this is one album most of you won't want to miss. Just one listen through will convince you that this band occupies its own space in the musical world. Killer guitar and bass chops, steady drumming, and wonderful background vocals by Ashley Cleveland accent Mark Robertson's clever lead vocals. Lots of fun was had while the band was recording, too, as the song where they picked up the CB conversation through their guitar amps will testify to.

Most of the songs, as I alluded to earlier, are vocals. Not all of them are, though. Opening off the CD is an instrumental track, and there's a very surfy (for a midwest-based band) track in the middle of the album. Professionally cheesy organ gives that track an extra flair. Quite catchy--I wind up humming the track for practically minutes after it's over.

Really, though, I like this album. Some tracks are better than others, as with all album. There is easily enough variety, between the country flavorings and the punk and the bar-style rock, to make most genre fans happy. Usually this sort of variety leads to inconsistency. Very luckily for us, this time it doesn't.

Well, should you get this album? Xavier Roberts might not want to, although the band's haircuts do remind me a little of cabbage patch dolls. Yes, is the the answer, though, if you like slightly goofy but insightful rock music. Zany can be a good thing, because nobody had it harder than the mimes of the old west.
Everyone missed this when this was first released, so here's the point. This music review is alphabetical; each subsequent sentence begins with the next letter of the alphabet.