Last Train Home—Last Good Kiss (CoraZong Records).
For a band that started as a part time outfit 10 years ago, Washington DC band Last Train Home has come a long way. This is their fifth album and will surely be their breakthrough record. The albums title comes from a James Crumley novel and the eponymous title track is a very strong, bouncy Americana/Country opener. The pace slows for Flood but the added grit more than makes up for the lack of speed and I feel that this is a real songwriter’s song. The Country flecked Anywhere But Here follows with former Jayhawks keyboard player Jen Gunderman excelling on electric piano. Vocalist Eric Brace‘s velvet voice is best heard on Can’t Come Undone. This plods along and shows now tight a band they are. Go Now is slow and piano-led although the band say that they started it out as a Pogues style waltz. This version is lovely and poignant and I’m glad they changed their minds. A remembrance of Brace’s late father, May continues the sedate pace in its classic folk/country style – just drift away on his voice. You has contemporary funky sounds and a big, powerful chorus. It’s a love song, a rare thing on a Last Train Home album.
Just as I’ve said love songs are rare, here comes another. I’m Coming Home is classic Americana and it is so easy to listen to them. Kissing Booth is more of the same and they are becoming as familiar as an old pullover. I will go back to this again and again. Marking Time has another of their trademark powerful chorus’s and the last official track, The Color Blue, has a retro feel with Claire Small’s backing and Kevin Cordt’s trumpet. Three bonus tracks begin with Loves Farewell, a traditional roots song given the Last Train Home treatment. Bob Dylan and Levon Helm’s This Wheels On Fire is probably best remembered as the Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger version but Last Train Home’s Americana treatment works fantastically well. Alice Despard gets her chance on vocals and Steve Wedemeyer’s ballsy guitar rounds everything off. The last track is a radio edit of Last Good Kiss and this shorter version loses none of the impact of the opening track. Last Train Home deserves a hit.
http://www.corazong.com/
http://www.lasttrainhome.com/
David Blue.
For a band that started as a part time outfit 10 years ago, Washington DC band Last Train Home has come a long way. This is their fifth album and will surely be their breakthrough record. The albums title comes from a James Crumley novel and the eponymous title track is a very strong, bouncy Americana/Country opener. The pace slows for Flood but the added grit more than makes up for the lack of speed and I feel that this is a real songwriter’s song. The Country flecked Anywhere But Here follows with former Jayhawks keyboard player Jen Gunderman excelling on electric piano. Vocalist Eric Brace‘s velvet voice is best heard on Can’t Come Undone. This plods along and shows now tight a band they are. Go Now is slow and piano-led although the band say that they started it out as a Pogues style waltz. This version is lovely and poignant and I’m glad they changed their minds. A remembrance of Brace’s late father, May continues the sedate pace in its classic folk/country style – just drift away on his voice. You has contemporary funky sounds and a big, powerful chorus. It’s a love song, a rare thing on a Last Train Home album.
Just as I’ve said love songs are rare, here comes another. I’m Coming Home is classic Americana and it is so easy to listen to them. Kissing Booth is more of the same and they are becoming as familiar as an old pullover. I will go back to this again and again. Marking Time has another of their trademark powerful chorus’s and the last official track, The Color Blue, has a retro feel with Claire Small’s backing and Kevin Cordt’s trumpet. Three bonus tracks begin with Loves Farewell, a traditional roots song given the Last Train Home treatment. Bob Dylan and Levon Helm’s This Wheels On Fire is probably best remembered as the Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger version but Last Train Home’s Americana treatment works fantastically well. Alice Despard gets her chance on vocals and Steve Wedemeyer’s ballsy guitar rounds everything off. The last track is a radio edit of Last Good Kiss and this shorter version loses none of the impact of the opening track. Last Train Home deserves a hit.
http://www.corazong.com/
http://www.lasttrainhome.com/
David Blue.
1 comment:
These guys are simply the best. No matter who's with them, they play exceedingly well, a well-oiled machine. I'm partial to Wedemeyer's visits; he can play a mean guitar!
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