Cargo Records
GRAVEYARD TRAIN - Takes One To Know One LP (colour vinyl)
$38.95
Limited edition clear vinyl.
The music of Graveyard Train has both a sense of evil and playfulness, which can be as treacherous as it is alluring. The line between light-hearted and novelty is blurry, and a step on the wrong side could be disastrous.
Thankfully, the Melbourne band appear to be stepping further away from novelty territory and, for the most part, everything on Takes One To Know One is better than anything they've done before. The gang vocals are even more stirring, the instrumental flourishes seem more considered and are presented in a way that's both gutsier and more crystalline. Their songs are just better; the slow-building ‘The Creep', for example, shows significant development in their songwriting talent.
If you loved 2012's Hollow, it's hard to imagine you won't also fall for the intimate charms of Takes One To Know One. But is it too intimate? There's a distinct lack of the unhinged energy that pumped through Hollow's songs like ‘I'm Gone', there's no moment as confounding ‘One Foot In The Grave', and some fans might miss that.
With Hollow they proved they could take their excessively dark, often twisted take on alt-country from the live stage to record. Now, after lots of writing and not very much touring, it's time to wonder if it can go the other way; will a more considered Graveyard Train still have that same fiery impact when they're out in the pubs?
But, really, that's a conundrum for later. For now we've been graced with another supreme release from a band that is becoming one of the best swampy country acts Australia's produced in some time.
The music of Graveyard Train has both a sense of evil and playfulness, which can be as treacherous as it is alluring. The line between light-hearted and novelty is blurry, and a step on the wrong side could be disastrous.
Thankfully, the Melbourne band appear to be stepping further away from novelty territory and, for the most part, everything on Takes One To Know One is better than anything they've done before. The gang vocals are even more stirring, the instrumental flourishes seem more considered and are presented in a way that's both gutsier and more crystalline. Their songs are just better; the slow-building ‘The Creep', for example, shows significant development in their songwriting talent.
If you loved 2012's Hollow, it's hard to imagine you won't also fall for the intimate charms of Takes One To Know One. But is it too intimate? There's a distinct lack of the unhinged energy that pumped through Hollow's songs like ‘I'm Gone', there's no moment as confounding ‘One Foot In The Grave', and some fans might miss that.
With Hollow they proved they could take their excessively dark, often twisted take on alt-country from the live stage to record. Now, after lots of writing and not very much touring, it's time to wonder if it can go the other way; will a more considered Graveyard Train still have that same fiery impact when they're out in the pubs?
But, really, that's a conundrum for later. For now we've been graced with another supreme release from a band that is becoming one of the best swampy country acts Australia's produced in some time.
