Train's 'California 37' stalls

No one tries harder than Train. Unfortunately, all that strain and effort shows up in unattractive ways throughout the "Hey, Soul Sister" band's new album "California 37" (Columbia). It's one gimmick after another on "California 37," which kicks off with a "We Didn't Start the Fire" rip-off "This'll Be My Year" and never really recovers. ("I stopped believin', though Journey told me, 'Don't'," Pat Monahan sings, presumably with a straight face.) Sometimes, the cutesiness works, as it does in the first single "Drive By" and "Bruises," but usually it falls flat, as in the flamenco-tinged "50 Ways to Say Goodbye" and the morbid "You Can Finally Meet My Mom."

TRAIN

"California 37"

GRADE C

BOTTOM LINE Hey, soul sister, a little help please?