Quantcast
Music
cover art

John Train

Mesopotamia Blues

(Chapter 7 Records; US: 25 Sep 2007; UK: Unavailable)

John Train’s latest album is a rock-meets-blues romp that plays quite well to his means of turning a phrase. “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” seems to fuse both of said genres with a touch of roots and folk added to spice things up. Train constantly throws sonic curves to keep the listeners on their toes, as is the case with the rambling, Middle Eastern-tinted “Equipment Failure” and the gentler, Brit-folk feel of “Leachman’s Ghost” that ambles along. Perhaps the first true head-scratcher is the poppy “Mulloy 2006” that doesn’t seem to mesh well given the lyrical content. Fortunately, he returns to his strength with a memorable rendition of “The Kind Merchant”, and a delightful cover of Tom T. Hall’s “Mama Bake a Pie”. Most of these songs have a theme of war behind them, yet the highlight of this collection is the edgier, roots-rock, Wilco-ish vibe oozing out of the gorgeous “Yo Ho Ho”. The biggest drawback is the elongated and tedious “Look Her in the Eye” which loses momentum over the course of seven minutes and change.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Tagged as: john train
Comments
Now on PopMatters
Busted Headphones: Hip Hop Es Mi Cultura
Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth (Reviews) [Mon, 3:25 pm]
‘The Artist’ dominates BAFTAs (PopWire) [Mon, 9:01 am]
Your Anti-Valentine's Day Playlist. (Mixed Media) [Mon, 8:30 am]
  1. 'Nebraska': Bruce Springsteen's 'Heart of Darkness' (Columns)
  2. The 10 Greatest Shakespeare Film Adaptations of All Time (Short Ends and Leader)
  3. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 1: From 13Ghosts to Friendly Fires (Features)
  4. Not-So-Central Casting: Kevin Smith and the Birth of the Reality Podcast (Features)
  5. The 10 Greatest Movie Spies Ever (Short Ends and Leader)
  6. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 2: From the Go! Team to the Phoenix Foundation (Features)
  7. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 3: From Real Estate to Youth Lagoon (Features)
  8. Bored This Way: The 54th Annual Grammy Awards (Features)
  9. Lana Del Rey: Born to Die (Reviews)
  10. The Top 15 Madonna Singles of All Time (Sound Affects)
  11. Get Off of My Cloud!: 'Collecting' Music in the Digital Age (Features)
  12. Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas (Reviews)
  13. Google and the Production of Curiosity (Marginal Utility)
  14. Carole E. Barrowman’s Authorial Journey to Hollow Earth (Features)
  15. “Don’t Let Me Fall”: Hip-Hop in the Age of Austerity (Features)
  16. Tower Songs: Townes Van Zandt (Columns)
  17. Black Bananas: Rad Times Xpress IV (Reviews)
  18. Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom (Reviews)
  19. The Gay Ole Countryside (Columns)
  20. Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks (Reviews)
  21. Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro: A Rock Star’s Midlife Crisis or Valid Literature? (Features)
  22. Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth (Reviews)
  23. Counterbalance No. 67: John Coltrane’s 'A Love Supreme' (Sound Affects)
  24. A Look to the Past, An Insight Into the Present: The Use of Gender in 'Mad Men' (Features)
  25. The 10 Best John Coltrane Solos (Sound Affects)
  26. A Tale of How Great Journalism Became Revisionist History: Grambling State U Football (Columns)
  27. Chairlift: Something (Reviews)
  28. Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral (Reviews)
  29. Mitt Romney Can Reside at Today's Proverbial 'Downton Abbey'... Newt Gingrich Cannot (Features)
  30. After Cease to Exist: The Far-from-Final Report of Throbbing Gristle (Features)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.