By Kimberly Pollock
What Long Island emo kid-or any self-proclaimed emo kid, for that matter-doesn’t know all of the drama that went down between the island’s own Brand New and Taking Back Sunday? If you’re a fan of either band (or both), it is likely that you know the whole sordid story, or at least you pretend that you do to impress people.
Here’s the story, without going into detail, as the fans have learned it: Jesse Lacey of Brand New and John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday were ending a long and close friendship over-what else?-girl trouble. At the same time, there were also small internal differences between members of Taking Back Sunday (mostly between Nolan and frontman Adam Lazzara).
The best thing to come out of all of the drama involving the two bands was not the revengeful tune “Seventy Times Seven” by Brand New, nor was it the plea for innocence given by Taking Back Sunday in the song “There’s No ‘I’ In Team.” No, the best thing to come out of this was a little something called Straylight Run.
After all of the fireworks went off, the smoke had cleared, and Lacey and Nolan patched up their friendship. Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper left Taking Back Sunday and formed Straylight Run in May of 2003, along with Nolan’s sister, Michelle, and Will Noon, formerly of Breaking Pangea. The ironic thing is that the former guitarist and vocalist of Breaking Pangea, Fred Mascherino, took over John Nolan’s place in Taking Back Sunday. It was as though Taking Back Sunday and Breaking Pangaea were switching the lineup for a team of players in a game of dodgeball. The founding members of Straylight Run were the last to be picked, and they were the underdogs, but they immediately gained recognition because of their roots and because of the album itself.
Their self-titled album was released in October of 2004 on Victory Records, and it could quite possibly be one of the best things to happen to the emo scene in a very, very long time. In a word, the album is breathtaking. In two-to quote Napoleon Dynamite-it’s flippin’ sweet.
Fans of bands like Something Corporate as well as Brand New and Taking Back Sunday will find solace in Straylight Run’s album because of the powerful lyrics and the melodic piano pieces scattered about on certain tracks. Each band member has something spectacular to offer listeners-all being extremely talented at their craft-which makes the band, as a whole, more than just perfect. The album is flawless, with slow and melodic tracks interweaved with fast-paced and upbeat songs, all of which feature beautiful and thought-provoking lyrics that fans just will not be able to get out of their heads.
With songs like “The Tension and the Terror,” “Another Word for Desperate,” and “Mistakes We Knew We Were Making,” this Long Island dynamo is definitely making a name for itself. In lyrics from their first single, “Existentialism on Prom Night,” Straylight Run inadvertently creates a place for listeners to escape to, a place where they can just let loose and forget about their daily qualms. The lyrics are “Sing like you think no one’s listening,” and the majority of their fans will think that that is some of the best advice they have ever received.

Emerging emo band Straylight Run shows plenty of potential for stardom with their most recent release on Victory Records. (Image courtesy www.yoonah.egloos.com)