Kill Tunes

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Kill Tunes
Kill Tunes.jpg
Studio album by
Leaving Trains
Released1986
Genre Indie rock
Label SST [1]
Leaving Trains chronology
Well Down Blue Highway
(1984)		Kill Tunes
(1986)		Fuck
(1987)

Kill Tunes is the second album by the American indie rock band Leaving Trains. [2] [3] It was released in 1986 via SST Records. The band supported the album with a North American tour. [4]

Contents

Production

"Private Affair" is a cover of a song by the Saints. [5] Kill Tunes is the last album on which the Hofer brothers played. [2] "10 Generations" addresses themes of authenticity and selling out. [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Robert Christgau B+ [7]
Lincoln Journal Star Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
Record-Journal B [6]
Reno Gazette-Journal Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]

Trouser Press wrote that frontman Falling James Moreland "displays his boozehound-next-door humor for the first time on “A Drunker Version of You,” and it provides a welcome respite from the vitriol sprayed elsewhere." [11] The Los Angeles Times thought that "it's one narrow line between convoluted and eclectic, and Leaving Trains walks it, bends it and ties it into knots." [12] The Reno Gazette-Journal determined that "the guitar attack is reminiscent of the Clash in their heyday." [10]

Robert Palmer, in The New York Times , declared: "The album title is apt; Mr. Moreland writes the songs, then the band assaults them with well-placed jabs, hard riffing, chaotically celebratory vocals and sheer energy"; Palmer later listed Kill Tunes as the third best album of 1986. [13] [14] The Providence Journal opined that "Kill Tunes does smack of revival, but not of stale rehash." [15]

AllMusic wrote that "the album mixes soft ballads, high-octane rave-ups, and furious rock played with endearing jangle, roaring bar chords, and catchy pop hooks." [5] Spin listed the album as one of the 80 "excellent" underground rock albums of the 1980s. [16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Light Rain"2:26
2."She's Looking at You"2:32
3."Private Affair"2:04
4."Cigarette Motel"1:22
5."10 Generations"3:39
6."Kinette"3:29
7."A Drunker Version of You"2:29
8."Black"1:54
9."Falling"2:11
10."Vicki"2:02
11."Terminal Island"2:22
12."Warning Track"2:26

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Dave (August 29, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  2. 1 2 "The Leaving Trains Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Cogan, Brian (2006). Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture. Greenwood Press. p. 110.
  4. ↑ "L.A. Dee Da". LA Weekly. May 15, 1986. p. 43.
  5. 1 2 3 "Kill Tunes". AllMusic.
  6. 1 2 Zebora, Jim (August 24, 1986). "Off the Record". Record-Journal. p. E2.
  7. ↑ "The Leaving Trains". Robert Christgau.
  8. ↑ Wolgamott, L. Kent (July 22, 1986). "Records". Lifestyle. Lincoln Journal Star. p. 5.
  9. ↑ Tucker, Ken (July 20, 1986). "Leaving Trains Kill Tunes". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. H7.
  10. 1 2 McClary, Eric (October 19, 1986). "Rock". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 8E.
  11. ↑ "Leaving Trains". Trouser Press. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  12. ↑ de la Vina, Mark (August 31, 1986). "Trains Roll". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 63.
  13. ↑ Palmer, Robert (August 15, 1986). "Pop and Jazz Guide". The New York Times. p. C19.
  14. ↑ Palmer, Robert (January 7, 1987). "Peter Case Heads a List of the Top Albums of 1986". The New York Times. p. C20.
  15. ↑ Boehm, Mike (January 25, 1987). "Rock: Has every stone been turned?". The Providence Journal. p. H3.
  16. ↑ "Underground". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. January 29, 1990.
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