People of a certain age will recognize the title
AM Gold as an allusion to radio fodder of the 1970s -- the hit singles compiled on K-Tel records at the time and later archived on the Rhino series Have a Nice Day: Super Hits of the 1970s. It's an intentional wink at the listener as well as a description of the contents of
Train's ninth studio album. While
Train avoids period-specific replications of the golden age of leisure suits, the group embraces the spirit of AM radio in the '70s, a time when the slick and silly sat side by side on the dial.
Train dabbles in disco, smooth soul, earnest love songs, shellacked strings, and bouncy melodies. While all those sounds evoke the 1970s, the band takes pains to wrap them in a bright, shiny digital package, a move that usually sounds tailored for any breezy playlist in 2022. There are other nods to contemporary pop, especially on the Latin rhythms of the
Sofia Reyes duet "Cleopatra," but the appeal of
AM Gold lies in how it stirs memories of the past -- not the 1970s, but rather the ebullient shine of Y2K pop.
Train makes maximalist pop music, the kind designed to be heard and sold at big-box stores, a sensibility that's rare in 2022, which is why
AM Gold delivers a very particular kind of retro good times. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine