Steel Train

steeltrain
Click on the turntable on the left to listen to a continuous stream of music featured on Pretty Much Amazing - updated every day. For more, you can check out the Best Songs of 2011, or our Best Albums of 2011.

Take some of The Format’s hard-rocking power-pop. Add a bit of fun.’s over-the-top flair. While you’re at it, throw in U2′s soaring anthems and The Hush Sound’s consistent catchiness.

You know what? It might be better for you to just listen to a few songs. Because despite its many derivatives, Steel Train is a pretty darn unique band. And they’re a pretty darn fantastic band, too.

The five-piece group’s best album, Trampoline, was released way back in 2007, and is loaded with non-stop goodness, tracks ranging from 5-minute plus epics to quick, moments of pop brilliance (you’ll be “ooo-ing” along with “Firecracker” by the time the song wraps up). So what better way to demonstrate the band’s versatility than listen to a couple of these songs?

The first, album opener “I Feel Weird,” is the quick fix. Balancing out the sugary-sweet guitars and bells that ring the song along are harsh, frenetic vocals from lead singer Jack Antonoff (also a member of PMA fave fun.). The song, while immediately bouncy and jubilant, also has a surprising amount of emotional depth to it once the lyrics are given a closer look: “When I was eighteen, everything was alive, then the planes hit the towers, then she died and he died, a part of me disappeared, six feet in the ground, million miles in the sky a fire burns, a fire burns, a fire burns and it is mine.” Still, the sing-along “na nas” and “oh ohs” help to keep the track an uplifting one.

“Alone on the Sea” is Steel Train’s epic, as the U2 influences are heard right away with the song’s wailing opening guitars. About midway through the 7-minute track, Antonoff’s voice drowns out the overwhelming layers of sound, as he lets us know that he is “lonely like a sailor, on the sea.” And as he proceeds to chant the song’s titular refrain while the band’s instrumentals build under him, it’s tough to avoid hearing a pretty great Win Butler imitation.

But here I go again, comparing Steel Train to other bands. And it’s really a shame, because as those who have listened to Trampoline in full know, this group really is completely original and creative. Their live show (a review coming later) will only make you fall in love with them more, but for now, check out these tracks, and get into this band. You won’t regret it.

[display_podcast]

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

chermanshing (CHERMAN) January 7, 2010 at 6:29 pm

Twitter Comment


[link to post] #steeltrain

Posted using Chat Catcher

Reply

Colin Calle January 7, 2010 at 8:07 pm

beautiful

Reply

Riley January 7, 2010 at 8:46 pm

cute and fun :)

Reply

SAMcerullo (Sam Cerullo) January 8, 2010 at 9:12 am

Twitter Comment


#tracksfor #followfriday Steel Train ‘Firecracker’ [link to post]

Posted using Chat Catcher

Reply

gariphic (Gary Holmes) January 10, 2010 at 8:27 pm

Twitter Comment


New band discovery: Steel Train. [link to post]

Posted using Chat Catcher

Reply

David January 11, 2010 at 12:43 am

I saw them with the honorary title, limbeck, and the format it was one of the best shows i ever went to, Nate from the Format went on stage with them to sing kill monsters in the rain, and Jack went on stage with limbeck to sing ohio on some steps…pure briliantness :) )

Reply

gariphic (Gary Holmes) January 11, 2010 at 7:48 am

Twitter Comment


Getting familiar with Steel Train (U2′esque) [link to post] #MusicMonday

Posted using Chat Catcher

Reply

Leave a Comment

{ 10 trackbacks }

xqki93

I’m one of the few people I know that wasn’t into Frightened Rabbits’ The Midnight Organ Fight, and one of the new people that wasn’t excited for their follow-up, The…

Keep Reading...
softpack

Summer is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year for various reasons. If you’re a regular reader to this blog, you will know that as soon as the weather…

Keep Reading...
theknife

Just hours after their announcement, The Knife have indeed uploaded new material to their SoundCloud account. The new track, “Colouring of Pigeons” is 11 minutes of chanting and musical bombast.…

Keep Reading...
contra

I’m not sure who Juan is, but Pitchfork hooked us up with these great clips of Vampire Weekend jamming out to three of our favorite Contra tracks. While I’m not…

Keep Reading...
massiveattack

With their new LP, Heligoland, Massive Attack boast an impressive line-up of guest vocalists. First single “Pray For Rain” featured vocals by TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. Hope Sandoval…

Keep Reading...
roisin

How does the saying go? “If you think we’re bad, take a look at our parents”? Something like that. On her forthcoming single, “Mama’s Place,” Roisin Murphy is a mom…

Keep Reading...
theknife

How wonderful the internet is. The music streaming, hosting, discovery channel Sound Cloud (you can “drop” your music at PMA’s Dropbox here), has announced — through Twitter of course —…

Keep Reading...
shuffle

Here are Pretty Much Amazing’s Top 75 Songs of the Decade. Below you will find the entire list with three accompanying podcasts. For our reviews of the Top 25 songs,…

Keep Reading...
OSB_AnimalCollective

FADER and The Natural History Museum of NYC are bringing to you the most epic party of 2010.  Animal Collective and “Special Guest” will hold down the wheels of steel,…

Keep Reading...