Iliketrains - Dingwalls, London, 29/3/2007

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 23 / 3 / 2007

intro

At the London Cargo, Anthony Strutt enjoys a fresh-sounding and impressively brooding set at a one off show from iLiKETRAiNS, whose long-awaited full length debut album will come out later in the year

Newly signed to Beggars, iLiKETRAiNS sound fresh and have made the trip down to London from Leeds for a one-off gig to show off their newly recorded material which should end up on their full debut album later in the year. Their main support are Troubles, which features several members of the mighty Hope of the States. Troubles are entirely instrumental and sound as doomy as their previous band and just as brilliant. iLiKETRAiNS are very loud tonight, blasting our ears from their first note. Gone are the smelly old British Rail jackets and in their place they wear crisp white shirts and black ties. A jagged drum pattern opens their 65 minute headliner set at Dingwall's which tonight is rammed to the hilt and they begin with a new song possibly called 'This Town is Burning Down'. This has Kitchens of Distinction style haunting guitars, which make us all sway to the riffs being played. iLiKETRAiNS' world is a dark place full of dark images and dead people from the past haunt their songs, so they are here to educate us all on these lost characters. They introduce themselves and ask us how we are before going into their now classic 'Rook House for Bobby', their second single. The next track possibly called 'The Devil's Name' is introduced as one of their new songs. They then play another which is called 'We All Fall Down', which is sang as a duet, and is fairly quiet until it works itself up into a powerhouse of sound. 'Terra Nova', their last proper indie single which came out on Fierce Panda and also appeared on their mini album on the same label 'Progress Reform', is greeted by the audience like an anthem. It is eerie, loud and magnificent tonight and leaves us breathless. 'Hold Back the Cavalry'in contrast is much slower The band announce they have only two more songs left. A new one, 'The Voice of Reason', again starts slowly. It has a slow but beautiful build up and, superbly played, is as classic as great Cure song. The closer is the current single and their Beggar's debut, 'Spencer Perceval', which clocks in at just under 10 minutes of noisy blissful brillance. The encore is special as their air their very first single, 'Before the Curtains Close', which is slow and elegant before ending the evening with the last track on'Progress Reform', 'The Beeching Report'. They play this unaccompanied and without the choir that appears on record or the special guests that usually appear with them when they play live . A great gig by a band that will be huge.

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