Train In Vain
Bullet-Makin' Gun 7" (Fuzzgun)
by Marc Hirsh
Train In Vain
Bullet-Makin' Gun 7" (Fuzzgun)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in the Public News, August 9, 1995
Throwing themselves gleefully onto the market glut of unspectacular bands with singers who can't carry a tune are Train In Vain, who present "Bullet-Makin' Gun," a 7" which, if I read the lyric sheet correctly, not even the band is altogether satisfied with.
When a singer's just not that good (and in this band, he's not), the last thing you want to do is hear more of him. That's exactly what this band gives us, though, overdubbing vocals on top of one another until it sounds like Jane's Addiction on a bad day.
The music is poppy without really have strong melodies to justify it. The words are laughable at times, as in "now I'm not your favorite candy hangin' round your neck." Imagine the Gin Blossoms with middle school-depressed (rather than high-school angsty) lyrics and a terrible singer.
Probably the most telling bit of info in the insert is the part about how the band gave the tapes to a real producer (Jim Wilson, who engineered albums by Sugar and Magnapop) who couldn't do anything with them. Let me repeat that: a man whose job it is to make bands sound good on tape couldn't do anything with Train In Vain. If I were them, I'd've kept that to myself.