Wolfmother - Love Train (Island)
3/5
By: Charlie Potter
You've heard a thousand, million, trillion times people saying that Wolfmother sound like Led Zeppelin (that's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times, if it helps you to grasp it), whereas in fact they sound much more like Deep Purple. Though, hands up, I admit it, this track in particular does sound a lot like Led Zeppelin.
But as you may know, Led Zep never released any singles, which is partly why this track at 3 minutes long is so strange - just when you expect the three hour solo to start, as it would in a Zeppelin composition, it just stops. Though who knows, maybe the band are considering releasing a 20 minute song in a 6 part saga, rather like the brilliantly ridiculous R Kelley opera.
So, the 'Love Train', hmm? A classic Motown idea, but what the hell does it mean? Where does this train go? Why is it so hard to get on it? Is it a busy train? I'm confused, left imagining a train journey as one giant, aimlessly travelling orgy, every passenger bewildered but somehow desirable. But who cares if the lyrics mean anything, the important thing is it sounds a bit like something Led Zeppelin might have said, but in a much more palatable way.
The music is like a version of LZ as a lot people would prefer to remember them, conveniently forgetting all those hours of drum solos and that confusing occult business. Most people, you see, just want to be reminded of them without having to go through the effort of actually listening to them. And it's these things that make 'Love Train' an understandable choice for single release - the general sound and arrangement of the song are very well thought out, and as we know, everyone loves the idea of things sounding funky whilst maintaining some kind of edge you only get with some rock'n roll guitar.
Another reason it works as a single is that it uses that old, oft attempted trick of leaving you wanting more. Unfortunately, this isn't because the song is itself particularly amazing - unlike most radio singles, this isn't a nicely rounded composition. It struggles to really go anywhere - there are a couple of nice solos and some keyboard noodling, but it all just sounds like they have tried to fit too much into too little time. You are left wanting more, but of something you haven't been given.
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