Straylight Run

This record is a let down, not so much for what it is, but what it could have been. After leaving Taking Back Sunday, guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, along with bassist Shaun Cooper, sought to form a band which would bring back the genuine emotional core they had begun to feel was lacking in the TBS juggernaut. Teaming up with Nolan’s sister Michelle and drummer Will Noon (ex-Breaking Pangaea), the newly-formed band released a set of demos on the internet that set up tremendous expectations for the band’s full-length album. Unfortunately, Straylight Run have fallen victim to a serious case of glossy over-production and an obscene amount of pitch correction. Whereas their internet-only demos were raw and emotionally charged, the album versions of those same songs reek of insincerity and technological tweaking. Some tracks, like the opening "The Perfect Ending,” still retain that same passionate honesty, but awful tracks like "Dignity and Money,” drag the whole effort down. More a straight-up pop band than anything else, Startlight’s piano-based songs are sure to find an appreciative audience, but for anyone exposed to their earlier recordings, this will be a disappointment.