iLiKETRAiNS are one of the most intriguing new bands on the circuit, with an image and a live show to match the remarkable ambition of their music.
They revel in train-related imagery, wearing matching 80’s-style BR jackets. Their lyrics are often character studies of a forgotten historical figure, told in the first person. And in their live shows, the stories are augmented by retro slide-projector imagery.
If all this sounds a tad pretentious, it shouldn’t. iLT actually make very disciplined, accessible music. In their live act, sombre, atmospheric melodies are juxtaposed with blistering crescendos whilst simple, poignant stories unfold in the lyrics and visuals.
James Everard met David (guitars/vocals) and Alistair (bass) from the band, to swap train pictures and admire their frankly exquisite facial hair.
You’ve got quite a unique vision as a band. How did that develop?
D: It happened quite organically. We started as an acoustic 2-piece but we realised it’s a lot more fun to make some noise with electric guitars.
A: We’re classic rock stars!
D: We don’t necessarily like the same kind of music. What we wrote just ‘happened’.
A: I remember in our early gigs it was a lot more shambolic, we were running about the stage swapping instruments. We’ve really streamlined it.
Some of your songs are about historical figures. How do you decide who to write about?
D: Well, I think we’re attracted to tragedy. We’re attracted to forgotten characters.
You formed in Leeds, where there’s quite a strong music scene emerging. Would it have been different if you’d formed in London?
A: London just doesn’t have the same support network for bands as Leeds… But there’s not really a Leeds ‘sound’. There isn’t a common trend like there was in Manchester in the late 80’s.
D: We just hang out! And a number of the Leeds bands are on the choir section on our track ‘The Beeching Report’.
A: And we live on the same street as well, it’s very communal.
With the experimental nature of the band, how do different crowds take to you up and down the country?
A: There’s some places where we seem to go down better than others, Oxford for example.
D: ‘Cos they’re educated.
A: Yes, they can understand the stories! London’s always been very good for us…
D: There seems to be this idea that London crowds don’t really listen or react, but they’ve been some of the best audiences for us. I think the Leeds connection really helped because there’s been a few successful bands recently.
Do you write as a band?
D: We jam to get the bare skeleton, then generally I’ll take it away and write a song from it. A lot of the newer ones are about the textures and layering of different instruments. The ideas for songs often come from Guy, the other guitarist. We’re really looking forward to writing a new album.
That’ll be your first complete album. Any plans?
D: It’ll be an organic process. We’re going to pursue the historical figures further. I’m really looking forward to writing a cohesive set of songs, an album with a beginning and an end – not just a collection of songs.
A: But not necessarily a concept album.
D: But MAYBE a concept album!.. It feels like a really creative time for us at the moment… We’ve sold out a couple of seven-inches, we were really happy with that. We just want to improve, that’s our only career plan. We just want to capture people’s imaginations. That’s about all we can say on tape, we wouldn’t want you to print the rest!
Ooh, what shouldn’t we print? Any rock ‘n roll stories?
A: A cup was thrown out of a window once…
D: It was a second floor window!
Are your fans a bright bunch?
A: They’re lovely.
D: They’re usually internet-savvy. I think they generally have a bit of grey matter! I don’t want to speak DOWN to them, I want to speak TO them.
A: Didn’t you call them stupid once?
D: No! Shut up! They’re cleverer than us, we just try to sound clever to attract the girls. That’s not true! Don’t print that, if my girlfriend reads this…
Don’t worry, it’s off the record. You’ve been labelled ‘post-rock’. It’s an interesting genre, influenced equally by prog and punk – which would seem to be polar opposites…
D: Yeah, and that’s when it’s really interesting for us, when it starts to converge boundaries. We don’t consider ourselves post-rock, though we have post-rock influences.
Post-post rock?
A: Yeah, we tried to coin that term, but no-one went for it. NME called us ‘Doom-prog’!
REVIEW
iLiKETRAINS
Progress Reform
History, trains, punk, ambient, and the lower case ‘i’…
It’s a seemingly incongruous list of influences, but in practice it all makes sense. iLiKETRAiNS set tragic factual tales to a thumping, anthemic post-rock soundtrack, and it’s immediately clear that they aren’t going to reside in any comfortable, predefined genres.
This compilation album of the band’s early EP tracks is a dramatic collection of historic vignettes, and a fine introduction to the band’s unique vision. The blistering opener ‘Terra Nova’ is followed by the mournful ‘Fram’, offering two contrasting, yet equally tragic accounts of Antarctic expedition. It’s a perfect subject matter for the band; desolate, menacing – yet awe-inspiring. The collection culminates with ‘The Beeching Report’, an epic, choral account of the fall of the British railway network.
It might all sound a bit strange in print, but it’s a wonderfully lyrical record; a celebration of the melancholy of nostalgia, forgotten causes and battles long since lost. iNTRiGUiNG.
J Everard Design 