Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of May 25th-31st:
Straya - Healthy Steps
01. 2.0
02. Treat Me Like Prince
03. Richard Baggins
04. Sports Song
05. Set Me Up
06. Hazel
07. Killer Mike Saved My Life
08. Sauceman's
09. Comma Spaceman
10. Brotherman
11. You Can't Put Me On The Spot Like That, Man
Straya's been bubbling under the surface of the Twin Cities guitar scene for a couple of years now. Their indie-prog sound perhaps a bit at odds with the loud-fast-scrappy guitar sound that's been the scene's calling card for years now, they seem to have been biding their time until they were able to present their music to the standards they require. While Healthy Steps is technically their debut album, if you've been following along since 2013. you'll notice that the album is the culmination of a lot of time and attention to detail.
When Straya first turned up on my radar, the only thing on their Bandcamp page were records titled Demos & EP One. On those early albums the band's sound was similar to local legends The Plastic Constellations. The guitar work was intricate, the lyrics were mostly yelling, and the band staked their post-punk claim with chops & charisma more than anything else. Nonetheless, I enjoyed them enough to play "Chronologies" way back on Flatbasset Radio: Episode #35.
While neither of those albums appears to be available any longer, the fact that I was able to spend time with them gave me a deeper appreciation for where they're trying to go on Healthy Steps. The first half of the album opens with an instrumental titled "2.0," which, considering how the first half of the album gives us definitive versions of previously released songs, is an appropriate jumping off point. "Chronologies" grew and morphed into "Treat Me Like Prince," previous stand-alone single "Richard Baggins" has been given an atmospheric scrubbing, while early classic "Set Me Up, Hazel" has been broken up into a two-part, high-octane centerpiece. The lone new song on the records first half, "Sports Song" is a keyboard-inflected 5:00 epic that features Rush-esque time signature changes and vocals that wouldn't be out of place on a These Arms Are Snakes album.
With the instrumental "Killer Mike Saved My Life" acting as a mid-album palette cleanser (and most of Straya's older songs having been given their "definitive version" treatment) the second half of the album is where Straya 2.0 shines. The four song "Man Suite" (as I've taken to calling the second half) is easily the band's most ambitious statement yet. Over the course of 18:35 the band indulges in keyboard plunks, time changes, stops, starts, screamed vocals, shoegaze, clarity & fuzz. "Sauceman's" opens with some keyboard/drums/bass work that would make both Donald Fagen & Geddy Lee proud before going full Minus The Bear.
A reworked and expanded "Comma Spaceman" follows and stands as the band's most fully realized track to date. For the first three minutes the keyboards soothe, the rhythm section stretches out and breathes, and lovely vocal melody floats to the forefront. However, at the 3:00 mark, the band eschews their prog-rock leanings and launch into a full-fledged, thirty second My Morning Jacket-esque guitar solo before returning the songs to its roots. Of course, they break it down & build it up one more time just for good measure because hell, "definitive version" should mean "definitive version."
Penultimate track "Brotherman" is the hyperactive brother of the multi-part monster that was "Comma Spaceman," still packed with ideas, but delivered in rapid succession. Straya almost seems to be testing their own limits by seeing how many ideas they can pull off in 4:00. Turns out: quite a few.
After the speed workout of "Brotherman," all of the pieces of Healthy Steps are assembled on "You Can't Put Me On The Spot Like That, Man." As much as I've compared the band to Rush so far, this is the point where the comparison becomes clear and valid. The speed of "Brotherman" is gone. The well-known & well-rehearsed pieces of "Comma Spaceman" are also gone. What we have with "YCPMOTSLTM" is a brand new mission statement from Straya. Combining their prog-rock cues with a Zeppelin-esque flair for the dramatic, it's an epic album closer that seems to double as the opening salvo for where the band hopes to head next.
Healthy Steps is an expansive, rewarding listen, but if the band makes one thing clear with this album it's that the decks are now clear. All of those older songs have been set in stone while the new tracks seem to be just scratching the surface of what the band is capable of. Whether Healthy Steps ends up being the beginning of a long-proggy journey or and as an end point for a band pushing as many ideas as possible onto one record, it's bound to stand as one of the most unique albums to come out of Minnesota this year.
If you'd like to check out Healthy Steps for yourself, head over the Straya's Bandcamp page to download the album or order one of the limited-to-100 CD's that I'm assuming are still available since they're still on the Bandcamp page.
