Iliketrains "Progress Reform" (Beggars Banquet)
By Ryan Harig
Wednesday. May 02, 1:35 PM
Simple majesty with countless moments of awe.

I have to quote what my editor said via email when he sent me the review duty for this album: "Ryan, this is right up your alley. You will fucking love this record." He was right. I guess that’s why they pay him the big bucks and I’m still working overtime to make ends meet. (is eating ramen “making the big bucks?” – ed.)

So what do I love about Progress Reform? Literally everything. It’s a shoegaze, delay, and reverb sandwich that demands to feed you and make you full. Opener "Terra Nova" builds up to sonic mastery in its final minutes, with Explosions In The Sky-like tremolo fast picking and swaying sad vocals that can make a fart in a cathedral seem mystical and epic. This whole album follows suit: growing, glowing, and showering down moments of intensity and sonic rock that demand to punch you square in your gut. I spend hours and hours online everyday looking for bands like this, and usually the joy of finding something even half this good knocks me down onto the floor in pure delight. It’s that GREAT. Get it, but a copy for your friends, listen to it alone or in an amphitheater where you can cry like I do every time I witness some of Progressive Reform’s destructive climaxes.

You really have to listen to the album’s simple majesty from beginning to end. There are countless moments of awe. I have listened to this disc somewhere between 10 to 20 times since I received the duty to tell the world how I feel about Iliketrains. Every time it gets better and better. Very few albums do that, especially one that starts out with a monumental bang. This is one of my earliest picks for best album of ‘07, easily.

You want something negative? The dude’s vocals sound a bit like Morrissey, but I’m not complaining: just stating the obvious. There are a lot of vocals of similar types in the world, and to be quite honest if The Smiths had rock opera albums like this, I might actually be into them. Oh yeah and the band name is kind of ridiculous, but so is Mogwai and Hum but I am not complaining about their albums. Not one bit.

Did I already say you need to buy this album? Just do it. I promise it’s great.
www.iliketrains.co.uk
www.beggars.com

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Ryan Harig

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