Straylight Run - S/T

Straylight Run
s/t
Victory Records
Grade: A-

As the debut record from former members of Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run take a complete different direction on the nucleus of their songs and produce rock songs centered around guitar and piano drabbed with scores of pop bliss. With s sufficient degree of exposure, Straylight Run may become your favorite new band.

The concept of Straylight Run began in May 2003, when John Nolan and Shaun Cooper decided they wanted a different life than that one proposed with continuing in Taking Back Sunday. This seems like an odd decision given the meteoric rise in popularity of Taking Back Sunday, but the reasons were surely varied. Maybe Nolan didn’t like people referencing him as the ‘skinny head’ guy from Taking Back Sunday – though I may have been the only on to call him such. With the help of Mark O’Connell on drums, Nolan and Cooper laid the foundation for the band and got initial interest started with early demos. After Will Noon, formerly of Breaking Pangaea, took over on drums, the band added John’s sister Michelle to play piano and provide background vocals. With tours with the New Amsterdams and Brand New, Straylight Run took to the backcountry of producer Mike Birnbaum’s Woodstock, NY studio – most recently noted for his work with Coheed and Cambria. And the end product is these eleven orchestral tracks.

The record begins on “The Perfect Ending” with Nolan crooning, light piano and some slight ambient electronics. As the song builds and drops throughout, Straylight Run presents an image of hope and potential that is fairly developed and dense. “The Tension and the Terror” picks the tempo up with a more standard indie rock pop song. On the first pre-chorus when Nolan is joined by Nolan, you definitely get the feeling of bands like the Anniversary and Helicopter Helicopter. But the core chorus is the money shot, which easily distinguishes “The Tension and the Terror” as the star, rip-roaring track on the record. That the following mellower piano-driven “Existentialism on Prom Night” is out as the first single surely baffles given the inherent hotness of “The Tension and the Terror.” “Existentialism on Prom Night” does dazzle with piano and apparent strings, it is just the former is etched at a higher level. “Another World for Desperate” sounds very similar to something well-known, but I can’t put my finger on it. I guess that is a good thing, since it sounds at once familiar as well as new and may be neither. If you hadn’t already, by this point you realize that Straylight Run love drawn-out four-to-five minute affairs that are thick on orchestration – at least from the perspective of most indie rock bands. “Mistakes We Knew We Were Making” comes off like a song that you would here on the radio though with a bit more edge, while “Dignity and Money” could easily be just a new slowed down TBS song. But in that respect, “Dignity and Money” has the potential to rock out reasonably hard. The ballad “Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)” resonates for me as Nolan gives instructions to his house on Long Island. Given that I lived a few blocks from the same highway, it might as well be to my house. Besides from that, when Michelle joins John in the singing, “Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)” is truly a sweet affair. As a smart measure of sequencing, the punky-dance number “Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs” follows with Michelle on lead vocals and the right combo of electronics. Basically, with Michelle on lead vocals Straylight Run becomes another band and a quite good one for at that. Slight electronic drums adds to otherwise piano-led “It’s For the Best.” The record closes out on “Now It’s Done” and “Sympathy for the Martyr.” On “Now It’s Done,” Michelle’s vocals rise up the ashes of Denali but with the sweetness that comes from other groups like Azure Ray. “Sympathy for the Martyr” features John and Michelle signing together which produces a nice effect that carries off well as the last impression.

As the debut record, Straylight Run has easily hit a homerun. This bodes especially well for the future as it didn’t take the band long to knock out this record after Nolan and Cooper left Taking Back Sunday. This means they will likely improve and score an awe-inspiring follow up record. But for now, look out for their video for “Existentialism on Prom Night” and their tour with lesser mortals Hot Rod Circuit, Northstar and Say Anything. Moreover, be on the prowl for “The Tension and the Terror” rocking out as the next single.