Train - "Cab (Single)"
(Columbia, 2005) * * * *
Normally I don't review singles. But in the case of Train I think an exception deserves to be made.
STEP 1: Listen to Train - "Cab"
I'll lay it out on the line. Until their disasterous flop My Private Nation, which fell victim to Patrick Monahan's addiction to cliches of all manner, I was a Train addict. Their first, self-titled, album is one of the better country-rock-pop hybrids to come out of the late nineties, and while Drops of Jupiter treaded down a pop road best not travelled, the band pulled the album off in style. But My Private Nation ... well, I believe my original review speaks for itself: "[My Private Nation] was the biggest waste I've ever had the 'opportunity' to review." (Ball State Daily News, Pop Misfires, April 22, 2004)
But that said, Train's upcoming album For Me It's You (due out January 31 on the Columbia label) suggests a lot to look forward to, if the rest of the album can lift from the creative edge of "Cab" -- the leadoff single -- to create an album for once, instead of just another jangly pop single. "Cab" throws off the excesses of past singles "Drops of Jupiter," "Calling All Angels," "Get To Me" and "Ordinary" -- all catchy but built mostly on empty platitudes -- to create something that is truly surprising.
No longer is the band happy ripping off the success of "Meet Virginia." Monahan's vocals borrow liberally from the likes of David Gray, with a melody that hearkens back to seventies AM radio. It's a combination that is arriving at exactly the right time, when radio -- particularly in the adult contemporary genre -- is looking for something beyond the usual retreads. Newcomers such as Daniel Powter (writer of the infectious Canadian pop single "Bad Day") have taken Europe by storm with what a pop song used to be -- catchy and worth talking about.
Give the song a listen and try to tell me the band doesn't sound revitalized. Talk about a great early Christmas gift, now I'm actually excited to hear new music from a band I'd almost written off as irrelevant.
Normally I don't review singles. But in the case of Train I think an exception deserves to be made.
STEP 1: Listen to Train - "Cab"
I'll lay it out on the line. Until their disasterous flop My Private Nation, which fell victim to Patrick Monahan's addiction to cliches of all manner, I was a Train addict. Their first, self-titled, album is one of the better country-rock-pop hybrids to come out of the late nineties, and while Drops of Jupiter treaded down a pop road best not travelled, the band pulled the album off in style. But My Private Nation ... well, I believe my original review speaks for itself: "[My Private Nation] was the biggest waste I've ever had the 'opportunity' to review." (Ball State Daily News, Pop Misfires, April 22, 2004)
But that said, Train's upcoming album For Me It's You (due out January 31 on the Columbia label) suggests a lot to look forward to, if the rest of the album can lift from the creative edge of "Cab" -- the leadoff single -- to create an album for once, instead of just another jangly pop single. "Cab" throws off the excesses of past singles "Drops of Jupiter," "Calling All Angels," "Get To Me" and "Ordinary" -- all catchy but built mostly on empty platitudes -- to create something that is truly surprising.
No longer is the band happy ripping off the success of "Meet Virginia." Monahan's vocals borrow liberally from the likes of David Gray, with a melody that hearkens back to seventies AM radio. It's a combination that is arriving at exactly the right time, when radio -- particularly in the adult contemporary genre -- is looking for something beyond the usual retreads. Newcomers such as Daniel Powter (writer of the infectious Canadian pop single "Bad Day") have taken Europe by storm with what a pop song used to be -- catchy and worth talking about.
Give the song a listen and try to tell me the band doesn't sound revitalized. Talk about a great early Christmas gift, now I'm actually excited to hear new music from a band I'd almost written off as irrelevant.
posted by Jonathan Sanders @ 11:10 PM
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