Straylight Run: Тұңғыш студиялық альбомы

2004 debut studio album by Straylight Run

Straylight Run is the self titled debut studio album by American indie rock band Straylight Run. It was released on October 12, 2004, through Victory Records. The band was formed by guitarist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper, after both of them left Taking Back Sunday in early 2003. They recruited Breaking Pangaea drummer Will Noon and John's sister Michelle Nolan, to complete the line up. The band recorded some demos and toured throughout the remainder of 2003 before beginning work on the album. Straylight Run tracked it at Apple Head Studios in Woodstock, New York, between March and June 2004, with producers Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner. The band embarked on several accompanying tours across the United States with the likes of Hot Rod Circuit, Something Corporate, and Firescape, as well as delivering performances for The Bamboozle festival and on Last Call with Carson Daly. The music on Straylight Run moved away from the emo sound of Taking Back Sunday, transitioning into piano centred indie rock material, drawing comparisons to the Anniversary and Bright Eyes. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, with a few complimenting the sound though others disliked the production. Straylight Run reached number 100 on the US Billboard 200 in the first week of release, with sales of 11,000 copies. It further charted at number four on the Billboard Independent Albums component chart. As of September 2005, the album has sold over 225,000 copies in the US.

Taking Back Sunday released their debut studio album Tell All Your Friends in 2002; the band found themselves at the forefront of the emo music scene. Frontman Adam Lazzara said that he thought Nolan and Cooper were having difficulty adjusting to long term touring; however, Nolan later accused Lazzara of being unfaithful to his sister, Michelle, with whom Lazzara was in a relationship, citing this as his reason for leaving the band. In May 2003, John Nolan and Cooper formed a new band; the pair tracked demos with the aid of Taking Back Sunday drummer Mark O'Connell. The recordings laid the groundwork for their new sound: piano and guitar oriented pop songs, which would include samples, drum loops and other sounds. With their line up complete, the quartet continued practicing and recorded a few more tracks in the following months. When they felt ready to debut the band to the wider public, they settled on the name Straylight Run, after a large amount of discussion and debating. Around this time, Straylight Run were attracting offers from major labels as well as interest from music producers and managers who wished to work with them. The band embarked on a brief headlining tour of the northeast United States in September 2003; subsequent touring closed out the year, including their first full US tour that they co headlined with the New Amsterdams, and stints alongside the Format and Coheed and Cambria.

Straylight Run spent most of December 2003 working on new material and making plans to record their debut studio album, before supporting Brand New on their tour of the United Kingdom in January 2004. As part of the writing process, John and Michelle played the band acoustic tracks and worked on the tracks' arrangements. On some occasions, the tracks retained their original structure, but some had a different feel to them after each member added their parts. Prior to recording, the band played the new songs during their tours, giving them the opportunity to develop and change the songs. As a result of this, Straylight Run comfortable with how the songs were played and required little input from the producers during the studio sessions. In March 2004, the band travelled to Woodstock, New York, to record the album at Apple Head Studios, away from John Nolan and Cooper's hometown of Amityville on Long Island. After a brief break to play at the Skate & Surf Fest, recording resumed, and concluded in June of that year. The band re recorded their earlier demos and created new songs during the sessions. Nate Ruess of the Format contributed vocals to "It's for the Best", while Linda Nolan of the Nolans and Laura June Kirsch both provided additional vocals on "Sympathy for the Martyr". Straylight Run shifted away from the emo sound of Taking Back Sunday, transitioning into an indie rock sound; the shift had been compared to what happened with Blake Schwarzenbach when he left Jawbreaker to form Jets to Brazil. Though Straylight Run retains the introspective lyricism commonly found in emo, it has more of an emphasis on a piano based sound. Michelle Nolan sings lead vocals on "Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs" and "Now It's Done", alongside providing backing vocals throughout the rest of the album. The track was written a few years prior to its appearance on the album, and serves as a sequel to "There's No 'I' in Team", a track from Tell All Your Friends. "There's No 'I' in Team" was written in response to a feud between Nolan and Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey.#tag:ref|Lacey's perspective of the incident was chronicled in the Brand New song "Seventy Times 7". "Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs" features up tempo electronic instrumentation, which includes synths, earning it a comparison to work of I Am the World Trade Center. Shortly afterwards, the band performed at the Skate and Surf Festival. They went on a US tour with Rooney, Ozma, and the Redwalls in June and July 2004. On July 17, the album was announced for release in September of that year. Straylight Run appeared on the KROQ FM show Domestic Disturbance, where they debuted a new track from Straylight Run and performed live. On September 26, 2004, the band filmed a music video for "Existentialism on Prom Night" on a subway train. They got clearance from the New York City transit authority and the video was shot over a six hour period. The subway train repeatedly drove back and forth between two stations for the shooting. The video, which was directed by Major Lightner, was featured in regular rotation on MTV. After initially being scheduled for a September 21 release, Straylight Run was released on October 12, 2004, through Victory Records. To promote its release, Straylight Run delivered two in store acoustic performances in New York City. On January 7, 2005, Straylight Run won a fan voted contest on Launch. com, which earned them the spot to deliver a live in the studio performance of "Existentialism on Prom Night". Following the tour, Straylight Run played a few headlining US shows in February, with support from Firescape, Action Action, and Bella Lea, before they embarked on a UK tour in March of that year. During this time, the band performed at The Bamboozle festival and appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. Straylight Run was released on vinyl for the first time in April 2012, and subsequently re pressed in November 2013.

AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus said that the while Straylight Run includes some elements of emo, the "songwriting is more varied than many in that genre offer in the mid 2000s." He continued, saying Straylight Run "crafted a fine debut" that would "certainly please emo fans." Kaj Roth of Melodic wrote that Straylight Run "takes you on a trip over the clouds in the atmosphere" with the "dreamlike and emotional vocals perfectly packaged." LAS Magazine Natalie B. David considered the tracks with Nolan on lead vocals to be the weakest on the album, while also saying that a number of the songs "would be severely lacking without her." Alternative Press ranked "Existentialism on Prom Night" at number 59 on their list of the best 100 singles from the 2000s.