#14: Westbound Train

It's quiet down in Boston, and that's a rarity these days

Next up are Westbound Train. I took pictures of them for one of my photo projects last year

Wiki Says: Westbound Train is a ska band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. Their name originates from the Dennis Brown hit song by the same name.

Westbound Train released their first album, Searching for A Melody, in 2003. The band self-released their second album, Five to Two, in 2005, which featured guest appearances from Alex Desert of Hepcat and King Django. The album was re-released by Stomp Records on March 14, 2006.

Westbound Train were featured on the Hellcat Records compilation Give 'Em the Boot IV in November 2004. In January 2006, Hellcat announced that they had signed the band. A third full-length, titled Transitions, was released in September 2006.

Westbound Train played the Summer of Ska tour in the summer of 2006, along with Suburban Legends, Big D and the Kids Table, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Catch 22. Westbound Train also played the Fall of Ska tour in the fall of 2006, along with Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, and Suburban Legends.

Lynval Golding, the guitarist of The Specials, is a big Westbound Train fan. Golding can often be seen at Westbound Train concerts in the Seattle, Washington area, even once playing on stage with them and calling them "the next ska sensation."

Discovery: Searching for a Melody (2003)

Five to Two (2005)

Transitions (2006)*

Come and Get It (2009)

*best album

Favorite Songs: 15. Version City Time

14. Travel On

13. I Don't Belong Here

12. Can You Please?

11. There Goes My Girl

10. Salvation

9. My Heart Belongs To You

8. Forever

7. One Day

6. A New Hope

5. Come And Get It

4. Please Forgive Me

3. Good Enough

2. Bigger Things In Mind

1. Cheers! The World's Almost Over (Favorite song all time #47)

Years Active: 2001-Present

Seen Live: 6 times

July 2005- Montclair, NJ

November 2005-Montclair, NJ

July 2006-Asbury Park, NJ

November 2007-Sayerville, NJ

July 2009-Oceanport, NJ

September 2009-Washington, DC

Westbound Train has some of the sweetest love songs I've ever heard. They have some of the best dance songs I've ever heard. Some of the best horns and some of the best vocals. I'm a little surprised at their relatively small popularity amongst the scene. They're certainly one of the best bands I've ever heard and are even better live.

Up Next: Dirty south punk rock

Westbound Train and 9/11: "If life's so good, why does it hurt so bad?"

It should be noted right away that this post will change moods very quickly. I'm first going to recap my night last night in DC seeing Westbound Train, to then recapping my experiences and memories of September 11, 2001.

First up: last night. For the 8th time, I saw Westbound Train. And for the 8th time, they were amazing to say the least. The show was at DC9, in DC. For any Loyola people reading this, I'll try to describe the setting. The bar was like Zen West, if it had an upstairs with a bar and stage that weren't anything special. Around it, were bars like a Swallows, or Jerrys, even a Ryan's Daughter. Aside from the bars, it was like York Road. The place though was really cool. Nice small setting, not too many people but there was still a great crowd of WBT fans.

First up was Kill Lincoln, from DC. I liked them. College kids playing so pretty good original songs (and a good cover of "Knowledge" by Operation Ivy). It was the Sax players last show, and the crowd was largely fans of theirs. Not bad at all.

Next were The Ambitions, who I had seen part of a set before once at the Ottobar. Good 2-tone esq band. Guitar, Bass, Drums, (Excellent) Keyboards, and a chick singer who had a lot of soul in her voice.

Then....Westbound Train. The band had recently had their trailer robbed in New York, so they had to borrow Kill Lincoln's equipment for most of their stuff. Despite this, they were great. For my photo project, Luke, the sax player, let me take pictures of him the whole set...even a couple from on the very crowded stage. They had great energy, talked directly to the crowed, just played an amazing set as always. Even if you don't like ska or reggae too much, check them out live.

Songs they played:

• I Don't Belong Here
• Check Your Time
• Come and Get It
• Salvation
• What You Need
• For the Record
• Please Forgive Me
• Good Enough
• Sorry Momma
• Gone
• Covered "I Fought the Law" by The Clash
• Covered "Cupid" by Sam Cooke
• Covered "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
• Covered "Monkey Man" by Toots and the Maytals

I can't think of a witty or appropriate transition between the two topics (as I already used the quote from "Salvation" at the title) so I'm just going to jump right into it.

I remember Tuesday, September 11, 2001 very clearly. Very minor details. I remember being driven to school by my dad and them saying on "Elvis Duran and the Z Morning Zoo" that it was national 9-1-1 day. I remember being in Miss Mastrasamone's (don't care if that is spelled wrong) 7th grade on-level English class when our principle, Mr. Burke, came on the speaker to announce what had happened. I remember him incorrectly saying that the mall of America was on fire. I remember that when he said if anyone has family who works in NYC that they should go to the auditorium and I remember Eric Felcher getting up and leaving.

I remember the stupid people I went to middle school with thinking that our small school was going to be attacked and that the Russian's were responsible. I remember Mrs. Roberts snapping at someone who asked if we were going to change for gym. I remember leaving during Ms. Vilvechia's (again, don't care) class when everyone else form my street were called out early. I remember playing football behind the Herman's house and Louis' dad saying to us "say your prayers", not yet knowing the extent of had happened.

In the following days, I remember MTV playing the same things over and over again, specifically a Beastie Boys interview. I remember minor details coming out every day, but still mostly confusion. To an extent this is all I remember.

In the years that followed, I remember some other things, much of this that provided the inspiration for the Bomb the Music Industry! song "9/11 Fever!". Things I can't get mad at include the video footage taken by the French guys filming the firehouse who happened to get both planes on camera and "United 93".

I just deleted the rest of my post where I rant about the Nick Cage movie about the events. It wasn't necessary nor too appropriate. Just know that that is poor depiction of the days events, while "United 93" is a fantastic one. If you want an action movie, go see the Nick Cage one. If you want something real, go see "United 93".

With that delete I lost my very crappy tribute to the people involved on 9/11. Just know as someone who could see the Skyline from my town, there is no way to measure what they did that day and just knowing that they did it and appreciating it silently in your own manner is all you need to do. Plain and simple, words and actions cant demonstrate the thanks you owe them.

Summer Albums

Kind of taken from Romo's last post, and in "honor" of the new Green Day album, here are my most anticipated albums of the summer.

5. Big D & the Kids Table, "Fulent in Stroll" (Out 7/7): Amazingly this was number one, but then they released 3 songs off of it and the only reason its even on this list is beacuse of my historic love for Big D and how i for some reason keep giving them more chances. I guess six albums is when you have to "draw the line", well "Good luck"

4. Third Eye Blind, "Ursa Major" (Out 6/23): Fourth Album from 3eb, and the first since 2003. The songs released on the "Red Star EP" this fall were great, and i cant wait for the full album

3. Hub City Stompers, "Ska Ska Blacksheep" (Out 5/5): Fourth album from HCS, and I can't wait for this one (i'll probably buy it on iTunes right after this). HCS always kicks ass, and it'll be hard to top "Dirty Jersey", but I'm sure they can.

2. Westbound Train, "Come and Get It" (Out 4/21): Ok, so not exactly Summer release, but I havent gotten it yet so I'm counting it. Again, the 4th Album by WBT, and their cd's keep getting better and better. This one will be no excpetion, and I cant wait for warped tour.

1. The Aggrolites, "IV" (Out 6/9): The fourth album from the LA Reggae band (not counting the Tim Armstrong Album, also amazing), and their first in 2 years. Aggro was by far the best band at Warped last year, and I flat out cant wait for this Album.