I Like Trains – The Shallows

Earnest is a word that sometimes feels like it cuts both ways. To describe a record as ‘earnest’ in addition to a number of other virtues compounds them into a more auspicious whole; as a sole attribute it can be indicative of a band labouring a point. While the latter would be very unfair to I Like Trains, the multi-faceted ‘He Who Saw The Deep’ definitely benefited from falling into the first category, and to hear the follow-up retreading much of the same ground comes with a faint pang of disappointment.

It’s worth stating clearly at this juncture that whatever its inertia, ‘The Shallows’ will certainly delight long-time ILT fans; moreover, for the casual listener, the slightly Benjamin Curtislike leads in ‘Mnemosyne’ offer an easy introduction to the record, while ‘Reykjavik’ stands out as an idiosyncratic late highlight. All things considered, it might have been better to have been privy to a greater range of tempos and dynamics, but ILT do well to not lose ground after ‘He Who Saw the Deep’; ‘The Shallows’ may not be as career-defining, but on tracks like the pulsing, angsty ‘We Used To Talk’ ILT leave the listener in no doubt about their continued status of being a band that matter.