The Emperor’s New Band

Description

The Emperor’s New Band is the third and final album by the American alt-rock/rockabilly trio This Train, released on Organic Records in September 1999, distributed by Pamplin Music. “Screendoor” was written by Rich Mullins and featured on his 1987 album Pictures in the Sky (as well, the full-length radio single version of “Screen Door” was included on Mullins 1996-compilation entitled Songs).

This Chicago-area trio integrates rockabilly, punk, surf, country, power pop and whatever else fits into a solid whole. Behind a look that appears balanced as their sound, though, stands a band with a rakish sense of humor. Occasional Ragamuffin Band member Mark Robertson and his fellow Trainees are up to their funny bones in fun rock for a third time on The Emperor’s New Band. As always, the chuckles they bring never obscure the truth behind their wry smiles.

Those laughs come from a variety of directions. «She’s a Rocket» races along with a metaphor for a godly gal’s life, showcasing a horn section that may seem trendy but fits like a glove to This Train’s overall roots-rock core. Also check out «I Wanna Be Your Man», which reverses a take on a “Jesus is my best friend” sentimental perspective. «Technology» and «Magic Bean» employ light-hearted views of communication and coffee, respectively. An electrified cover of mentor Rich Mullins’ «Submarine» means to be equally fresh, but is surpassed by spoken word tribute to «Jazz», which is simultaneously a dig at Kenny G. and his ilk.

The humor turns darker on the title cut, which plays like a concentrated VH 1 “Behind the Music” special. A simple, folksy take on the hymn «No, Not One» prefaces an ending cover of This Train’s trailer park romantic rocker, «Monstertruck». This Train is a refreshingly common bunch of guys. But they’re sly rascals, too. [Jamie Lee Rake, CCM, November 1999]

In a world content with the austerity of many CCM artists, acts breaking this mold can become a shining beacon to those in search of something else. One such coterie is the band, This Train. After being in CCM but not being part of it for the past several years, This Train has released a new project which is sure to catch the attention of a growing crowd not willing to settle for mediocrity.

This Train’s latest project, The Emperor’s New Band, has a cohesiveness not previously found in their work. Of course, the band’s popular tongue-in-cheek lyrics are back, but they are skillfully infused with other elements to tie the project together. The lyrics and music were written in no time with ease and grace. “They just came together,” explains Mark Robertson, This Train’s frontman. This Train was able to afford hired horns. Their addition stops short of producing a swing/ska sound, but rather, it blends with the band to produce a picturesque sound that is impossible to label into a single genre. Robertson and Jordan Richter are right on with the guitars and Cobra Joe has his best performance to date on the drums. Together all of these elements come together somewhere between swing, punk, slapstick, rock-a-billy, surf, and gospel to form This Train’s most spiritually upfront record yet.

The band’s spirit of jest continues in their recognition of the power of coffee in the song «The Magic Bean». This Train also has their own tribute to jazz music in the song «Jazz». This song stands out from the rest of the album in that it is simply vocalist Robertson spewing out whatever popped into his mind about jazz music. The fan favorite, «Monstertruck», has been repolished and re-released as a hidden track. With the absence of a female vocalist, this tune sounds remarkably similar to their live sound. «The Emperor’s New Band», a favorite of the band, is not quite an autobiography for the band. Instead, it could be considered a tune addressing the subject of celebrity. It fits the band’s personality and disinterest in popularity.

Several of the songs from the project stand out as potential singles. The first one is This Train’s version of the hymn, «No Not One». The band began practicing this one while on tour with Rich Mullins. It begins sounding a bit swingish and ends with the band singing the chorus acapella. My personal favorite is «She’s a Rocket». Mark Robertson describes it as a spiritual metaphor – “I was writing this song about a guy chasing after someone. Then I thought about the girl at Columbine High School who was so sure of her faith that she could stare down the barrel of a gun and not deny Christ. It’s so amazing that someone that age had so much faith in where she was headed.”

This project is sure to catch the attention of any listener. Those looking for a different sound, other than contemporary Christian music, will immensely enjoy it. If such a diverse mixture of music causes trembling or fear, this is not the record for you. The purposeful distortion of some sounds may take a couple sittings to grow on you but the project is well worth it. [Cathy Courtright, The Phantom Tollbooth, September 1999]

Mark Robertson remarked recently that This Train is something he does with passion. The proof is in this proverbial pudding. A beefed-up recording budget has allowed This Train to add a horn section for their second label release, The Emperor’s New Band. Musically, the listener will hear rock-a-billy, jump blues, R&B and jazz – and lyrically the band is more upfront spiritually than ever. The first single to be released is the hymn «No, Not One!», which closes the album. Although the radio version excludes the acapella section that follows the song’s jazz-like party rendition, «No, Not One» is very worshipful and encourages listeners through beautiful lyrics:

Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide ’til the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!

Robertson again composed most of the songs, and his lyric-writing shows improvement, depth, and the delightful humor fans expect. Snippets from the lyrically inspired title track, for example, provide plenty of play on words:

Tour bus wheels, solo deals, living off the fad of the land
Catered meals, keep it real and never get too close to the fans
VH-1, setting sons, way too much excitement to stand
Come on give the boys a hand, as they’re striking up the bland
Come on give the boys a hand
Put your hands together, might be now or never, put your hands together
For the emperor’s new band.

Beginning with audio clips of Tex Williams, the first track, «I Wanna Be Your Man», is fast becoming a favorite among fans who have heard it performed live. Phil Madeira and Jimmy Abegg contributed to writing the music on the final version of «We’ll Leave the Light On», and the demo version is included as a bonus track. Both renditions encourage listeners to grab a partner and dance. The album also includes a great cover of Rich Mullins’s «Screen Door» and a remake of the classic fan favorite «Monstertruck», which appears here as a bonus/hidden track with Eric Hauck singing backing vocals instead of former co-lead singer Beki Hemingway. The music of «She’s a Rocket» was written mainly by lead guitarist and engineer Jordan Richter with help from Robertson and Cobra Joe. This song is not only one of the album’s standouts, it has also become the band’s first-ever video. And «Technology» features another dose of welcome humor:

Wish I may, wish I might, wish upon a satellite
You can give us back our dream, networked in the datastream
Everything gonna be alright, ’cause 1 plus 0 equals 2 tonight
So don’t freak out if I ain’t home, you just leave your message at the tone
You just leave your message at the tone, and we’ll get back to you!

Riki Michele, Eric Hauck and Carl Herrgesell perform backing vocals on various songs, many of which will take you back to the days of 50’s and 60’s rock ‘n’ roll; and Alexia Abegg (Jimmy A’s daughter) has a speaking part on «The Magic Bean».

Although you can expect something different from the Trains this time around, as with previous releases, The Emperor’s New Band will appeal to people of all ages and raises the question: “just how far could This Train go if more time was devoted to their development and promotion?” [Trish Patterson, The Phantom Tollbooth, September 1999]

CD tracklist:

01. I Wanna Be Your Man
02. We’ll Leave The Light On
03. Screendoor
04. She’s A Rocket
05. Emperor’s New Band
06. Jazz
07. Technology
08. Magic Bean
09. The Way It Sounds
10. No, Not One
26. Monstertruck 2000

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Organic Records.