Following up the 10-minute epic "BEFORETHECURTAINSCLOSE" was never gonna be simple, but with their equally intriguing second single, Leeds' stars in the ascendent iLikETRAiNS are about to lay something special on us once again.
The 'Bobby' referred to in the title is one Bobby Fischer, who - despite becoming world chess champion in 1972 - has lived a life full of the rich strangeness we like to associate with our most out-there rock stars. Indeed, since that watershed victory in '72, he has become embroiled in an apocalyptic cult, had his fillings removed because he felt they were influencing this thinking (I kid you not) and refused to play another competitive match until 1992. Oh, and said match took place in Yugoslavia during the period US sanctions forbade Americans doing business in that country. Arrest, imprisonment and indictment proceedings followed in 2004 and Fischer now lives in glorious isolation in Iceland. In rock terms, he is surely chess's very own Jeremy Spencer. Or Syd Barrett. Or Jaz Coleman. Or possibly an amalgamation of all three.
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So it's a tribute to iLikETRAiNS' abilities that they've once again conjured up a mysterious mini-symphony to do their arcane subject matter the justice it deserves. A fine team effort, dominated by melancholy and Dave's deep, sonorous voice which recalls Howard Devoto or a more lugubrious Neil Hannon, "A Rook House For Bobby" is elegant, enigmatic and only slightly less murderously precise than "Curtains...". The band sear, soar, hold the discipline reins tight and it's only when the distant comet that is Ashley's cornet is finally sighted on the horizon that they cut the ropes and usher in the dramatic maelstrom of a conclusion. To say it's ace is something of an understatement.
Oh, and the "Rook House" in the title refers to the shape of the house Fischer told a reporter he wanted to live in when he was 19. Just thought I'd clear that one up.
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