Are Royal Strays giving us an exercise in style with their self-titled album? Perhaps, but I prefer to think that this album is more an exercise in following your own path – in that misty memory way that rock music went before selling out to the lords of the stadium – than an attempt to formally engage with the arthouse crowd.
It would seem that Royal Strays - Ani Kyd Wolf, Don Binns and Don Short – are no beginners in the big wide world of music and, unsurprisingly, they never sound like they are trying too hard with these ten songs. That said, they are clearly committed to avoiding the easy path to the listener’s affections and this album is one that is more about something than anything. Everything sounds big as if destined to be performed on a stage of some size and, fortunately, the lyrics bear closer examination with “Better Than Porn” taking the prize for a song that should have been recorded in the heyday of rock music. You might even imagine the effect that a song like this would have on the youth of the days when textured gatefold sleeves were all you needed to get by.
The art is strong in Royal Strays and that is no bad thing. In these antiseptic times, music needs a bit of drama and Royal Stray deliver that with a notable degree of consistency. I would not describe this album as having immediate appeal but, for more mature ears, these songs will most likely turn out to be candy.