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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did "Kill Tunes" say to music? You're dying to be heard?

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Kill Tunes
Studio album by
Released1986
GenreIndie rock
LabelSST[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]

Production

[edit]

"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

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[5]
Robert ChristgauB+[7]
Lincoln Journal StarStarStarStarHalf star[8]
The Philadelphia InquirerStarStarStarStar[9]
Record-JournalB[6]
Reno Gazette-JournalStarStarStarHalf star[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

[edit]
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

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  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.