iLiKETRAiNS - Progress Reform

WE WERE TEMPTED TO WRiTE THE WHOLE REViEW LiKE THiS. But then decided not to. We were confusing ourselves. iLiKETRAiNS’ mini album ‘Progress Reform’ offers everything you’d expect from the start, with the majestic vocal and a mounting resurgence which swells forth with every passing beat of ‘TERRA NOVA’ (yes, all track names are written in that way - Annoyed Grammar Ed), and continues throughout.

A delicate percussive intro on ‘THE ACCiDENT’ and quiet, almost whispered vocals, with soothing accompaniment captures the hypnotic nature of iLiKETRAiNS at their best, as ‘NO MiLiTARY PARADE’ builds and falls to almost nothing with ease, while vocals retain the imperial nature throughout.

‘A ROOK HOUSE FOR BOBBY’ shows off the lyrical content of iLT that often gets overlooked, understandably so when the symphonic side of it is so powerful, drawing on the tale and the nature of the telling, to pull you in for the final growing push, and whilst most of the tracks feel like an epic offering, ‘STAiNLESS STEEL’ clocks in at eight minutes, using each of them to slowly build an emotive cacophony.

Whilst it can be draining to take in one sitting, it’s impossible to turn off once you’re inside, limited differentiation between tracks in this instance is not a criticism, but a compliment as the flowing ebbs tussle for a piece of your attention.