Straylight Run "s/t" CD
[Victory]
Lots of emo from a new band featuring former members of Taking Back Sunday, which is a soap opera in and of itself. I have to start off by stating that I think opening with the five-minute "The Perfect Ending" was a mistake, as the entire song is basically somber piano and vocals with a little bit of droning guitar texture in the distance. It definitely would've made a better closer for the disc, and not just because of its title, but because its slow pace and very laidback, melancholy delivery is a very anticlimactic way to open a record. That's not to say that there's very much rockin' goin' on here, there's not, but... you know, there's a little more zing in some of these songs. But on average, expect emo to the Nth degree: Faintly distorted guitars, jangly chords and thick keyboard/piano accompaniment, male/female vocal harmonies, a mild demeanor with a decent level of dynamics but nothing that ever really gets too energetic or explosive, etc. There's definitely a flat out sort of calm rock influence in place as well (think some of R.E.M.'s finer morose moments or something). "Existentialism on Prom Night" is driven by piano and acoustic guitars and really is a much more effective track than some of the others, something about the vocal arrangements and overall vibe of the piece make it more effective. "Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs" is the only song I really dislike. It's a shame this is among the only tracks where the female singing takes the lead, because the electronic drums and background textures along with the handclaps make for an obnoxious song that's a weird mix of poppy and... something else I can't pin down... because piano shouldn't play the lead role in a catchy song if you ask me. Thankfully the female-fronted "Now It's Done" makes up for that with its excellent use of keyboards and lush strings over soft, distant percussion (great use of a lead passage as well). I actually realized at this point that I like the female singing far more than the male singing on this record, her voice fits the softer elements of the music much better and her delivery seems somehow more emphatic and genuine. I've no problems with the recording at all. I think they should open up on the guitar distortion sometimes to really contrast their dominant soft side, but other than that everything sounds great and is mixed well. It's really cohesive and smooth, with the lead vocals only barely leaning in front of the music. There's a good level of clarity without separating the instruments too much, etc. Good work there, definitely. Visually everything looks pretty damn good, using consistently colored photographs and textures with an interesting font and tight text arrangements that are a little hard to read but definitely somewhat intriguing (despite bearing an odd similarity to the latest Further Seems Forever disc, so I'd be stunned if different designers handled the projects). All of the photography is somewhat mysterious, but I like that here, and the lyrics pull off a pretty personal approach by being just cryptic enough to remain open, despite feeling quite specific as well. "So if you've made it... just be glad that you did and stay there, If you ever feel loved or needed, remember that you're one of the lucky ones and if it's over, just remember what I told you it was bound to happen, so just keep moving on, There are no perfect endings..." The CD-Rom portion of the disc seems to have some extensive footage of the band in the studio documenting the making of the record, but it was choking up really bad on my computer and I was getting annoyed that there were no controls for fast forwarding, so I had to give up on trying to watch all that stuff. I'm not totally sure how I feel about this. I definitely think 50 minutes is a little heavy-handed for this record, there's definitely a good six to 10 minutes of material that could be shaved off for a more concise listening experience, and there are some alternately powerful and weak tracks, but... I don't know. It's not so bad, but I'm also not so into it. I think it's just too damn slow and chilled out as a whole. That can definitely work with certain types of music, but it's gotta be really powerfully emotional or dark in my opinion. These cats have some good ideas, but they only hint at rocking, they never fully get there... and that can be problematic. I really like the way they use piano and some strange guitar effects to spice up their compositions, but there's still something about most of the material that feels like it's missing, or falling a little short of its mark. This isn't derivative, though. I'll give 'em credit for that. There are a couple of killer tunes here, but I'm pretty bored by the record in its entirety. There's potential, but honestly they'd probably need to really branch out and say fuck tradition and really explore their less structured and emo/indie side in favor of more work with programming and strange effects (see the aforementioned "Now It's Done"). This is their first record so maybe they're still getting their foothold, but they're not quite where they ought to be just yet. Hopefully next time around it'll be a different story. (5/10)
Running time - 49:04, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Existentialism on Prom Night, Now It's Done]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com

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